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(V . 0 N G 





JACQUELINE OF THE 
CARRIER PIGEONS 






















ft 






- >) 




Copyright 1910 

By STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY 


Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1910 




CONTENTS 


Chaptee Page 

1. On Hengist Hill . f , . 3 

II. The Kjnq’s Paedon . . . , . . . 19 

III. Gysbert Becomes a Jumpee 35 

IV. In the Oamp of the Enemy 51 

V. The Decision of Jacqueline 67 

VI. The Coming of the First Pigeon .... 83 

VII. A Swim in the Canal — and What Came 

OF IT . 99 

VIII. “Tranquil Amid Paging Billows” . . .113 

IX. Vrouw Voorhaas’s Secret 129 

X. The Beggars of the Sea 141 

XI. Jacqueline Pesponds to an Urgent Sum- 
mons 155 

XII. Peunited 169 

XIII. Adrian Van Dee Werf 185 

XIV. Alonzo De Pova is as GtOOD as His Word . 201 

XV. The Eavesdroppers and the Plot . . .213 

XVI. When the Wind Changed 229 

XVII. A Crash in the Night 245 

XVIII. The Dawn of October Third 261 

XIX. The Secret Out 277 

XX. The Great Day 289 



ILLUSTRATIONS 


FROM DECORATIVE DRAWINGS 
BY GEORGE WHARTON EDWARDS 

Jacqueline and her carrier pigeons in the 
procession Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Gysbert draws the portrait of Alonzo De ilova . 62 
The Prince lay in a huge four-post bed . . . 120 


Dirk Willumhoog seizes Jacqueline 


292 


t I 











TO 

MY SEVEREST CRITIC, 

MY FATHER, 

AND TO 

VIRGINIA 

WHO WAS ITS INSPIRATION, 
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK 




INTEODUCTION 


FAIR LEYDEN 

I am glad that Mrs. Seaman has written 
this story. Americans cannot know Leyden 
too well, for no city in Europe so worthily 
deserves the name of Alma Mater. Here, af- 
ter giving the world an inspiring example of 
heroism, modern liberty had her chosen 
home. The siege, so finely pictured in this 
story, took place about midway in time be- 
tween two great events — the march of Alva 
the Spaniard and his terrible army of ‘‘Black 
Beards” into the Netherlands, and the Union 
of Utrecht, by which the seven states formed 
the Dutch Eepublic. 

This new nation was based on the federal 
compact of a written constitution, under the 
red and white striped flag, in which each 
stripe represented a state. Under that flag. 


INTRODUCTION 


whicli we borrowed in 1775 and still keep, 
though we have added stars, universal com- 
mon school education of all the children, in 
public schools sustained by taxation, and 
freedom of religion for all, was the rule. 
Leyden won her victory seven years before 
the Dutch Declaration of Independence in 
July, 1581. As our own Benjamin Franklin 
declared, ‘^In love of liberty and bravery in 
the defense of it, she (the Dutch Republic) 
has been our great example.’’ 

With freedom won, as so graphically por- 
trayed in this story, Leyden enlarged her 
bounds and welcomed to residence and citi- 
zenship three companies of people who be- 
came pioneers of our American life. Like 
the carrier-pigeons, they brought something 
with them. To our nation, they gave some 
of the noblest principles of the seven Dutch 
United States to help in making those thir- 
teen of July 4, 1776, and the constitutional 
commonwealth of 1787, formed by ‘‘the peo- 
ple of the United States of America.” 


INTRODUCTION 


First of all, to victorious Leyden, came the 
Walloons, or refugees from Belgium, to 
gather strength before sailing in the good 
ship New Netherland, in 1623, to lay the 
foundations of the Empire State. Then fol- 
lowed the Pilgrim Fathers of New England. 
Many of the young and strong who sailed in 
the Speedwell and Mayflower were horn in 
Leyden and spoke and wrote Dutch. The old 
folks, who could not cross the Atlantic, re- 
mained in Leyden until they died and some 
were buried in St. Pancras and St. Peter’s 
Church. In this city, also, dwelt the Hugue- 
nots, in large numbers, many of whom came 
to America to add their gifts and graces to 
enrich our nation. Last, but not least, be- 
sides educating in her university hundreds 
of colonial Americans, including two sons of 
John Adams, one of whom, John Quincy 
Adams became president of the United 
States, Leyden in 1782, led in the movement 
to recognize us as an independent country. 
Then the Dutch lent us four millions of dol- 


INTRODUCTION 

lars, which paid off our starving Continen- 
tals. Principal and interest, repaid in 1808, 
amounting to fourteen millions, were used to 
develop six thousand square miles of Western 
New York, when New Amsterdam (later 
called Buffalo) was laid out, and whence 
came two of our presidents, Fillmore and 
Cleveland. 

A most delightful romance is this of Mrs. 
Seaman. True to facts and exact in color- 
ing, it is all the better for being the straight- 
forward narrative of a real boy and a genuine 
girl. Gysbert Cornellisen’s cooking pot, 
once smoking with savory Spanish stew or 
hodge-podge, is still to be seen in the Stede- 
lyk (city) Museum, which every American 
ought to visit when in Leyden. It is in the 
old Laken Hal (or cloth Hall). From the 
turreted battlements of Hengist Hill (Den 
Burg) we may still look out over the country. 
If in Leyden on October 3, one will see 
Thanksgiving Day celebrated, as I know it 
was, most gaily, in 1909, in a most delight- 


INTRODUCTION 

fully Dutch way, when the brides of the year 
are in evidence. In Belfry Lane, where J ac- 
queline lived, was the later home of the Pil- 
grim Fathers. On the wall of great Saint 
Peter’s church is a bronze tablet in honor of 
the pastor of the Mayflower company, and in- 
side is the tomb of Jean Luzac, ‘‘friend of 
Washington, Jefferson and Adams.” His 
newspaper, printed in Dutch and French, dur- 
ing our Revolutionary War, won for us the 
recognition of three governments in Europe. 
On the Rapenhurg, where he lived, a bronze 
tablet in his honor was unveiled, to the sing- 
ing of “The Star Spangled Banner” on Sep- 
tember 8, 1909. 

Having spent weeks in Leyden, during a 
dozen visits, I can testify to the general his- 
toric accuracy, as well as to the throbbing 
human interest of this story of Jacqueline of 
the Carrier Pigeons, It will be sure to at- 
tract many a young traveller to Leyden. 

WmiiiAM Elliot Geiffis. 

Ithaca, N. Y., January 8, 1910. 












ON HENGIST HILL 


1 






















JACQUELINE OF THE 
CARRIER PIGEONS 

CHAPTEE I 

ON HENGIST HILL 

T he hush of a golden May afternoon lay 
on the peaceful, watery streets of Ley- 
den. Just enough breeze circulated to rustle 
the leaves of the poplars, limes and willows 
that arched the shaded canals. The city 
drowsed in its afternoon siesta, and few were 
about to notice the boy and girl making their 
way rapidly toward the middle of the town. 
Directly before them, the canal-interlaced 
streets and stone bridges gave place to a 
steep incline of ground rising to a consid- 
erable height. Its sides were clothed with 
groves of fruit trees, and from its summit 
frowned the mouldering walls of some long- 
forsaken fortress. So old and deserted was 


4 JACQUELINE 

tliis tower that a great clump of oak trees 
had grown up inside of it, and overtopped 
its walls. 

‘‘Art thou tired, GysbertT' asked the girl, 
a slim, golden-haired lass of seventeen, of her 
younger brother, a boy of little over fourteen 
years. 

“No, Jacqueline, I am strong! A burden 
of this sort does not weary me!” answered 
the boy, and he stoutly took a fresh grip on 
some large, box-like object wrapped in a 
dark shawl, that they carried between them. 

Up the steep sides of the hill they toiled, 
now lost to sight in the grove of fruit trees, 
now emerging again near the grim walls of 
the old battlement. Panting for breath yet 
laughing gaily, they placed the burden on the 
ground, and sat down beside it to rest and 
look about them. Before their eyes lay pic- 
tured the sparkling canal-streets of the city, 
beyond whose limits stretched the fair, fer- 
tile plains of Holland, and in the dim dis- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 5 

tance the blue line of the boundless ocean. 
Gysbert^s eyes grew misty with longing. 

Ah ! if I had but brush and colors I would 
paint this,’’ he sighed. ‘‘I would paint it so 
that all the world would think they looked 
upon the very scene itself I” 

‘‘Some day thou shalt have them, Gysbert, 
if thou dost but possess thyself with pa- 
tience,” answered his sister, with the gentle 
yet authoritative air of her three years’ 
senority. “We will raise many pigeons and 
train them. Then, when the price we have 
obtained from them is sufficient, thou shalt 
buy an artist’s outfit, and paint to thy heart’s 
content. Meantime thou must practice with 
thy charcoal and pencil, and wait till the war 
is over.” 

Both sat silent for a while, each occupied 
with thoughts that were, in all probability, 
very similar. The little word ‘ ‘ war ’ ’ recalled 
to them memories, pictures, speculations and 
fears, all very painful and puzzling. Neither 


6 JACQUELINE 

one could remember the time when their 
peace-loving land of the Netherlands had 
been allowed to pursue its avocations unmo- 
lested by the terrible Spanish soldiery. 
From time immemorial had these fair prov- 
inces been tightly grasped in the clutch of 
Spain. Now at last they were awakening, 
rousing themselves from the long inaction, 
and striking the first bold blows for liberty 
from the relentless oppressor. Little did 
the children dream, as they sat looking out 
over the beautiful city, that this same year 
of 1574, and this same Leyden were to wit- 
ness the great turning-point of the struggle. 

^‘Look, look, Jacqueline! There is the 
church of Saint Pancras, and there is our 
house in Belfry Lane. I can almost see 
Vrouw Voorhaas looking from the window! 
Come, let us set free the pigeons!’’ And 
Gysbert, all excitement, began to fumble with 
the wrappings of the bundle. Jacqueline 
rose, threw back the two golden braids that 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 7 


had fallen across her shoulders, and knelt 
down to superintend the work. 

Very carefully they removed the dark 
shawl and laid it aside, disclosing a box 
roughly fashioned like a cage, containing 
four pigeons. The frightened birds fluttered 
about wildly for a moment, then settled down 
cooing softly. When they had become ac- 
customed to the daylight, Jacqueline opened 
one side of the box, thrust in her arm, and 
drew toward her a young pigeon of magnifi- 
cent coloring, whose iridescent neck glittered 
as if hung with jewels. The girl cuddled 
the bird gently under her chin, and with one 
finger stroked his handsome head. 

“Let us send ‘William of Orange,’ first,” 
she said. “He is the finest, strongest and 
wisest, and will lead the way. I am glad we 
named him after our great leader.” 

“But the message!” Gysbert reminded 
her. “We must not forget that, or good 
Vrouw Voorhaas will never know whether 


8 JACQUELINE 

he got back first or not. She cannot seem to 
remember one pigeon from another. Here, 
I will write it.’’ He drew from his pocket a 
tiny scrap of paper on which he hastily 
scrawled: — ‘William of Orange’ brings 
greetings to Vronw Voorhaas from Jacque- 
line and Gysbert.” This he wrapped about 
the leg of the bird and tied it with a string. 
“Now, let him go!” he cried. 

J acqueline stood up, lifted the bird in both 
hands, and with a swift upward movement, 
launched him into the air. The pigeon cir- 
cled round and round for a moment, then 
mounted up into the sky with a curious spiral 
flight. When it was many feet above the 
children it suddenly changed its tactics, 
spread its wings taut, and made straight in 
the direction of Saint Pancras spire and Bel- 
fry Lane. 

“Bravo! bravo!” they cried, watching in- 
tently till its sun-gilded wings had all but 
faded from sight. “ ‘William of Orange’ is 
a true carrier pigeon ! Now for the rest ! ” 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 9 


One after another they released the three 
remaining birds to whom they had given the 
names ‘Count Louis’ and ‘Count John’ after 
the great William of Nassau’s two favorite 
brothers, and lastly ‘Admiral Boisot.’ It 
seemed to be a fancy of the children to call 
their pets after their famous generals and 
naval commanders. 

“These are the finest pigeons we have 
raised,” remarked Jacqueline as she shaded 
her eyes to watch their flight. “None of the 
others can compare with them, though all are 
good.” 

“Now we have twenty,” added Gysbert, 
“and all have proved that they have the very 
best training. No pigeons in the city are 
like ours, not even old Jan Van Buskirk’s. 
When shall we begin to hire them out as mes- 
sengers, Jacqueline?” 

“Perhaps there will be an opportunity 
soon,” answered the girl. “Now that our 
city is no longer besieged we may have to 
bide our time. But no one can tell what will 


10 JACQUELINE 

happ'ien next in these days. We must wait, 
Gysbert, ^ ^ 

‘‘Come, come! let us be going,’’ said her 
brother restlessly, “and see if they all get 
back safely, and whether ‘William of Orange’ 
was first.” 

“No, let us stay awhile,” replied Jacque- 
line. “It is pleasant and cool up here, and 
the afternoon is long. Vrouw Voorhaas will 
let the birds in, and tell us all about when 
they arrived. We may as well enjoy the 
day.” 

She reseated herself and gazed off toward 
the blue line of the ocean, shut out from the 
land by a series of dykes whose erection rep- 
resentt:'' years of almost incredible labor. 
The river Rhine making its way sluggishly 
to the sea, — a very different Rhine from that 
of its earlier course through Germany, — ^was 
almost choked off by the huge sand dunes 
through which it forced its discouraged path. 
The girl’s thoughtful mood was infectious, 
and Gysbert, after rambling about idly for 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 11 


a time, came and settled himself at her side. 

’Tis a strange hill, this, is it not, Jacque- 
line, to be rising right in the middle of a city- 
like Leyden? Why, there is nothing like it 
for miles upon miles in this flat country! 
How came it here, I wonder?’’ 

‘‘Father used to tell me,” said the girl, 
“that some think it was the work of the Ro- 
mans when they occupied the land many cen- 
turies ago, while more declare that it was 
raised by the Anglo-Saxon conqueror Hen- 
gist. That is why it is called ‘Hengist 
Hill.’ ” 

“How different it would have been for us 
if father had lived!” exclaimed Gysbert, sud- 
denly changing the subject. “It seems so 
long ago, and I was so young that I do not 
remember much about him. Tell me what 
thou knowest, Jacqueline. Thou art older 
and must remember him better.” 

“Yes, I was eleven,” said Jacqueline with 
a dreamy look in her eyes, “and thou wast 
only eight, when he went away and we never 


Ig JACQUELINE 

saw him again. We had always lived in the 
city of Louvain, and father was a professor 
of medicine in the big university there. 
Mother died when thou wast but a little 
baby. I can just remember her as tall and 
pale and golden-haired, and very gentle. 
Good Vrouw Voorhaas always kept house 
for us, and we had a big house then, — a grand 
house, — and many servants. 

‘‘Father was so loving and so kind! He 
used to take me on his knee and tell me many 
tales of Holland and the former days. I 
liked best those about the beautiful Countess 
Jacqueline of Bavaria, after whom he said 
I was named, and of how good and beloved 
she was, and how much she suffered for her 
people. 

“Then came the day when he disappeared 
— ^no one knew how or where for a while — 
till the news reached Vrouw Voorhaas that 
he had been captured by the cruel Duke of 
Alva and put to death. It was at the same 
time that the young Count de Buren, the 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 13 


eldest son of onr great William of Orange, 
was kidnapped from the University where 
he was studying, and taken a captive to 
Spain. We had little time to think of that 
outrage, so great was our grief for our dear 
father. Vrouw Voorhaas dismissed all the 
servants, closed the house and sold it, and 
we came to Leyden to live in the little house 
in Belfry Lane, where we have been ever 
since. ’ ’ 

The boy listened spellbound, though the 
recital was evidently one that had been oft- 
repeated, but had never lost its mystery and 
sorrowful charm. 

“I was so little,’^ he said at last, ‘‘I only 
remember our father as a tall man with gray 
hair and beard, and very blue, twinkling 
eyes. It is all like a dream to me! But is 
it not singular, Jacqueline, that Vrouw Voor- 
haas will never talk about him to us, nor an- 
swer any questions when we ask about him? 
And she has told us never to mention his 
name to others, and has made us change our 


U JACQUELINE 

last name from Cornellisen to Coovenden. 
I wonder why ! ^ ^ 

^‘It is very strange/’ agreed Jacqueline, 
shaking her head, ‘‘and I do not understand 
it myself. She told me once that I should 
know some day, and till then must never 
question her.” But the restless spirit had 
again seized Gysbert, and he scrambled to his 
feet to make another tour around the old 
fortress. Suddenly the girl was startled by 
his loud, insistent shout : 

“Jacqueline, Jacqueline! come here! 
There is something very odd coming across 
the plains! Come quickly!” She rose and 
ran to the other side of the hill where she 
found Gysbert shading his eyes with one 
hand. With the other he pointed to a thin, 
dark, undulating line moving slowly in the di- 
rection of the city, while here and there the 
sun caught a flash of blue and white, as from 
waving banners. Jacqueline’s cheeks grew 
white. 

“The Spaniards!” she breathed. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 16 


‘^The Spaniards indeed!’’ shouted Gys- 
bert. ‘‘And coming to besiege the city once 
more, when we thought they had left us for 
good and all. In five hours at most, they 
will be here in front of the walls. We must 
run to warn the Burgomaster Van der Werf 
to strengthen the defences and make all 
speed to close the gates. There is not a mo- 
ment to lose ! Come ! ’ ’ 

And without another thought but for the 
safety of the beautiful city, the two children 
clasped hands and ran at top speed down 
the steep hillside, in the direction of the 
great statehouse. 



THE KING’S PAEDON 


CHAPTER n 

THE KING^S PABDON 


WEEK had passed, and Leyden lay 



-iHL encircled by the Spanish army in a 
state of close siege. Eight thousand troops 
under the Spanish commander Valdez sur- 
rounded the city, sixty-two redoubts had 
been raised to bombard its walls, and more- 
over, the number of the enemy was daily in- 
creasing. 

But within the town were only a small 
corps of burgher guards, and ‘^freebooters^’ 
under the command of brave John Van der 
Does. Three sources alone supplied the re- 
liance of the beleaguered city, — their trust 
in God, the stout hearts and willing hands of 
the inhabitants, and the sleepless energy of 
Prince William of Orange, their heroic na- 
tional commander. 

Jacqueline stood in the dove-cote one 


20 JACQUELINE 

morning about eight days after the trip to 
Hengist Hill, feeding her little troop of car- 
rier pigeons. Her golden hair fell over her 
shoulders in two shining braids, her eyes 
sparkled, and her cheeks glowed with the 
pleasure of her occupation. Upon her shoul- 
ders, her hands, and even her head perched 
the feathered pets, so tame that they fairly 
disputed among themselves for the privilege 
of her attention. The dove-cote was a room 
on the top floor of the little house in Belfry 
Lane. The sun streamed in brightly through 
the large open window, the walls were lined 
with boxes serving as nests, and every detail 
of the room was, through the untiring efforts 
of Jacqueline, as neat and immaculate as a 
new pin. 

Suddenly the door opened and Gysbert, 
hatless and panting, stood on the threshold. 

‘‘Ah, Jacqueline!’’ he exclaimed, with true 
artist’s instinct. “What a beautiful picture 
thou dost make, standing there in the sun- 
light with the pigeons all around thee ! Had 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 21 


I but time I would bring my pencil, and 
sketch thee just as thou art. But hurry, 
hurry! The Burgomaster Van der Werf is 
going to make a speech and read two procla- 
mations from the steps of the statehouse. 
Every one will be there. Come, we must get 
near the front!’’ 

‘‘Yes, yes!” echoed Jacqueline, as eager 
as the boy. “Close thou the door tightly, 
Gysbert, and we will hurry, that we may not 
miss a word. Ah, I hope that the good Wil- 
liam the Silent has sent the city a message ! ’ ’ 

Out into the street they sallied, mingling 
with the crowd that was surging toward the 
open square in front of the great state- 
house. The bells of Saint Pancras sounded 
the signal for a public meeting, and one could 
read from each earnest, excited countenance, 
the importance that was placed on being 
present in this crisis. 

“Look!” cried Gysbert. “There is Jan 
Van Buskirk not far ahead. I thought he 
was too ill with lumbago to leave his bed! 


22 JACQUELINE 

See how he hobbles along I Let us join him, 
Jacqueline.’’ They ran ahead and caught 
up with the old man, who greeted them cheer- 
ily, in spite of the pains with which his poor 
bent body was racked. 

“Yes, I managed to crawl out of my bed,” 
he assured them. “’Tis important that 
every one should attend these meetings in 
such a pass as we are now. Think you we 
will hear word from William the Silent ? ’ ’ 
“Aye, but I hope so, though I do not yet 
know certainly,” answered the boy. “We 
have received no word from him since the 
siege began. Surely he will not desert us 
in this hour of need I” 

^ ‘ See, Gysbert ! ’ ’ whispered Jacqueline. 
“There is that evil-looking Dirk Willumhoog 
across the street. Do not let us get near 
him. His very appearance makes me shud- 
der!” The girl shrank closer to her brother 
and old Jan. 

“Surely thou art not afraid of him, Jacque- 
line!” said Gysbert scornfully. “’Tis true 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 23 

I detest him myself, but I fear him not. 
What harm can he do us?’’ 

‘‘I do not know,” replied his sister, ‘‘but 
there is that in his look that makes me think 
he would harm us if he could!” 

“Poof!” exclaimed Gyshert. “Did I not 
tell thee that he stopped me in the street one 
day, and asked me who we were, and where 
we lived, and who took care of us? I re- 
minded him that it was naught of his af- 
fairs, as far as I could see, and left him to 
scowl his ugly scowl as I walked away whist- 
ling. ’ ’ 

But the crowd had swept Dirk Willumhoog 
from their sight, and in a few moments they 
found themselves in the great square surging 
with people, and as fortune would have it, 
almost directly in front of the imposing 
statehouse, from whose high, carved steps 
the proclamations were to he read. They 
were not a moment too soon, and had but just 
pushed their way to the front, near a conven- 
ient wall against which Jan might lean, when 


U JACQUELINE 

Adrian Van der Werf, the dignified and hon- 
ored Burgomaster of the city, appeared on 
the stone steps high above the crowd. The 
universal babel of tongues immediately 
ceased, and the hush that followed was 
broken only by the occasional booming of the 
Spanish guns battering at the walls of the 
city. Then the Burgomaster began to speak : 

‘‘Men and women of Leyden, I am here to 
read to you two proclamations, — one from 
our beloved William the Silent, Prince of 
Orange-Nassau, — here he was interrupted 
by loud and prolonged cheers from the multi- 
tude, “ — and one from His Majesty, King 
Philip the Second of Spain.” The absolute 
and scornful silence with which the people re- 
ceived the last name was but a fitting indica- 
tion of their hatred. 

“I shall read the message from the Prince 
of Orange first.” And while the people lis- 
tened in eager, respectful silence, he repeated 
to them how their Prince and leader, whose 
headquarters were now at Delft and Eotter- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 25 

dam, sympathized with them sincerely in their 
fresh trouble, and how he deplored the fact 
that they had not followed his suggestion to 
lay in large stocks of provisions and fortify 
their city while there had been time in the 
months before the siege. The Prince re- 
minded them that they were now about to 
contend, not for themselves alone, but for all 
future generations of their beloved land. 
The eyes of the world were upon them. 
They would reap eternal glory, if they ex- 
hibited a courage worthy of the cause of their 
liberty and religion. He implored them to 
hold out for three months, in which time he 
would surely devise means for their deliver- 
ance. 

He warned them to take no heed of fair 
promises from the Spaniards if they would 
surrender the city, reminding them of how 
these same soldiers had behaved at the sieges 
of Naarden and Haarlem, when, in spite of 
their declaration to let the citizens go out in 
peace, they had rushed in and murdered 


26 JACQUELINE 

every one as soon as the gates were opened. 
Finally, he begged them to take a strict ac- 
count of all the provisions in the city, and be 
most saving and economical with food, lest it 
should fail them before the siege was raised. 
When the message was ended the crowds 
cheered themselves hoarse, and when the 
burgomaster inquired what word they de- 
sired him to send the Prince, they shouted as 
with one voice : 

‘‘Tell him that while there is a living man 
left in the city we will contend for our liberty 
and our religion!’’ 

“And now,” continued Adrian Van der 
Werf, “hear the proclamation of the King of 
Spain. He invites all his erring and re- 
pentant subjects in the Netherlands, and es- 
pecially Leyden, to return to his service and 
he will extend to them full forgiveness for all 
their crimes. He declares that if any will 
lay down their arms, surrender themselves, 
and become his loyal subjects once more, that 
they shall receive his pardon, and all shall be 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS n 

forgotten. He lias authorized General Val- 
dez to say that if the city will surrender at 
once, that the citizens shall be shown every 
mercy.’’ No sooner had the burgomaster 
ceased to speak, than old Jan Van Buskirk 
raised his voice : 

‘^It is a trap! Believe not in it!” 

‘‘Yes, yes! It is a trap!” stormed the 
multitude. “We will have none of it! We 
will die to the last man, before we will sur- 
render!” 

“What right has that wretch of a Spanish 
King to otfer us pardon!” growled Gysbert 
to his sister and Jan. “He forgive us, in- 
deed! And it is he that has been doing all 
the wrong and committing all the crimes. 
Many thanks to him, truly!” 

“But what message is it your pleasure 
that I shall send in answer to this?” asked 
the burgomaster. 

“Tell him,” roared Jan, who seemed to 
have constituted himself spokesman for the 
people, “that the fowler plays sweet notes 


28 JACQUELINE 

on his pipe, while he spreads his net for the 
birds!” 

‘‘Aye, aye!” assented the crowd approv- 
ingly. “Tell him that!” “’Tis a good an- 
swer,” commented Van der Werf, “and I 
will send it as it stands. Now who will take 
advantage of this pardon for himself? Let 
any who may feel so inclined come forward 
at once, and they shall be sent out of the gates 
to go their chosen ways in peace.” 

Another tense silence ensued. Each per- 
son stood his own ground stanchly, and 
watched for any sign of wavering in his 
neighbor. Presently from out the crowd 
there pushed a stout old man who finally 
gained the open space before the burgomas- 
ter. 

“I am a brewer of Utrecht,” he announced. 
“I do not live in this city and have no de- 
sire to maintain the siege. I wish to take 
advantage of the King’s pardon!” 

“Be it as you wish, neighbor,” answered 
Van der Werf. “Here are the necessary 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 29 


papers. You shall pass out unmolested, at 
the opening of the gate.^^ The man received 
the papers, while the crowd looked on, mut- 
tering in contemptuous undertones. 

‘‘And I,’’ declared another who had 
shoved his way to the front, “will also re- 
ceive the pardon, if you please.’’ Jacque- 
line grasped her brother’s arm convulsively. 

“Dirk Willumhoog!” he whistled softly. 
“The city will be well rid of him, to he sure, 
but what a coward!” 

When the two men had been furnished with 
the proper credentials, the burgomaster com- 
manded them to proceed at once to the prin- 
cipal city gate, where they would be dismissed 
to the Spanish army outside. But as they 
made their way down the wide Breede Straat, 
the fury of the crowd broke loose. 

“Shame! Shame!” hissed the following 
throng. “Shame on the cowards who desert 
their countrymen to join the despicable ranks 
of Spain! Thrice shame on their accursed 
heads!” Straight to the walls of the city 


30 JACQUELINE 

the multitude pursued the fleeing men, now 
actually trembling for their lives. The two 
children and old Jan, caught in the swirling 
throngs, found themselves almost on the 
heels of the fugitives. Jan grunted and 
spluttered his disapproval, hut Gyshert 
seemed fairly boiling over in his wrath, es- 
pecially against Dirk Willumhoog. 

The gate having been reached, it was opened 
but the smallest crack available by the guard- 
ing soldiers. The brewer from Utrecht 
squeezed his bulky form with difficulty 
through the narrow aperture, followed by the 
howls of the crowd. But Gysbert could con- 
tain himself no longer. Breaking away from 
his sister’s grasp, he rushed up to the re- 
maining fugitive and shouted in his face : 

‘‘Shame on thee, Dirk Willumhoog, for a 
dog of a coward! Shame! shame!” The 
man turned on him with so savage a counte- 
nance that Jacqueline could not repress a 
frightened scream. The cry attracted the 
man’s attention to her also. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 31 


^‘You shall rue this, you two!’’ he vocifer- 
ated. ‘‘You shall rue this day forever, — 
and for more reasons than you now think! 
You shall rue it!” And the closing gate 
shut his wicked features and his impotent 
rage from their sight. 



Ibt J 










GYSBEET BECOMES A JUMPER 


CHAPTER HI 

GYSBEET BECOMES A JUMPEE 

^ ^rriURN thy face a little more to the 
A light, Jacqueline. I want to get a 
full profile.’’ 

In the little living-room of the house in 
Belfry Lane, sat the two children, on an 
evening a month after the events of the last 
chapter. On one side of the table Vrouw 
Voorhaas bent over a huge pile of mending, 
casting an occasional loving and solicitous 
glance at her two charges, but otherwise 
quiet, silent and reserved. She was a woman 
of large, almost masculine proportions, and 
her muscular frame knew not the meaning of 
fatigue. Her features were plain and un- 
prepossessing to a degree, but neverthe- 
less grave and intelligent. She was rarely 
known to smile, and her manner was as that 


36 JACQUELINE 

of one weighted down with a great responsi- 
bility. Gysbert frequently told his sister 
that Vrouw Voorhaas acted as though she 
had some dark secret on her mind, and 
Jacqueline was forced to admit the truth 
of the remark. Her devotion to the chil- 
dren was beyond question, yet she seldom ex- 
hibited any outward expression of affection. 

Jacqueline bent over a musty-looking old 
book, turning its pages thoughtl Jly, and 
drawing her pretty brows together with a 
puzzled expression at frequent intervals. 
Gysbert sat on the opposite side of the table 
with pencil and paper before him, making a 
sketch of his sister’s head as she leaned over 
her book. 

‘^What is it thou art reading so intently?” 
he demanded at length. 

“’Tis an old volume that belonged to 
father’s library, — ^the only book that was not 
sold before we left Louvain,” answered 
Jacqueline. Neither she nor Gysbert noticed 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 37 


the startled glance with which Vrouw Voor- 
haas raised her head at these words. Jacque- 
line continued : 

‘‘It seems to he all about medicine. Thou 
knowest how that subject interests me, Gys- 
bert. I long, when I grow up to practice the 
healing art. I feel in some way as if the gift 
were in me.’’ 

“Poof!” said the boy. “Women are not 
fashioned to be physicians, — they have other 
duties! Thou art mad, Jacqueline! Such 
business is not for thee ! ’ ’ 

“Ah! I know it is not considered a 
woman’s business, and few if any have tried 
it. Yet there is the famous Queen Margue- 
rite of Navarre. They say she is the wisest 
woman in France, for all she is so young, and 
knows not only Latin, Greek and other lan- 
guages, but much about medicine and the 
healing art also ! I have been reading in this 
old book, but I can make little out of it, for 
there is much Latin in it, of which I under- 


38 JACQUELINE 

stand nothing. But it is my great hope that 
some day I shall study all about it, even 
though I never become a physician.’’ 

While they were talking, Vrouw Voorhaas 
gathered up her work and without a word, 
left the room. No sooner had she gone than 
Gysbert leaned across the table, and spoke 
to his sister in a voice scarcely above a whis- 
per: 

‘‘Jacqueline, now that Vrouw Voorhaas is 
out of the way, I want to tell thee several 
things, some of which I learned to-day. One 
thing I have fully made up my mind to do, — 
I am going to become a ‘jumper’ !” 

“A ‘jumper,’ Gysbert! And what may 
that be?” 

“Why, I might as well begin at the begin- 
ning and explain it all,” he answered. 
“Thou knowest the siege has lasted now for 
over a month, and things are beginning to 
look black for us. There is no more bread in 
the city, and but very little of the malt-cakes 
on which we are all now living. Precious 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 39 

glad I am that we were fortunate enough to 
lay in an extra stock of seeds for our pigeons, 
or we should soon be reduced to feeding on 
them! 

‘‘Well, I was in the square before the 
statehouse this morning, and through lis- 
tening to and taking part in some of the 
gossip there, I learned a few things. In the 
first place, our good William the Silent can- 
not possibly raise a sufficient army to 
encounter the besieging troops of the Span- 
iards, that’s plain. Relief must come in 
some other way, but how, God alone knows I 
However, our wonderful Prince is wise and 
resourceful. Let us not despair, but trust 
him to save us, and do our best to help. 

“Jacqueline, I am going to do my part! 
To-morrow I go to Burgomaster Van der 
Werf, to offer myself as a ‘jumper.’ Let me 
tell thee what that means. The Prince wants 
a few swift, skillful messengers who will go 
out of the gates secretly, in some kind of 
disguise, and make their way through the 


40 JACQUELINE 

Spanish forces to him. Now I am young, I 
know, hut I am big and strong, and I know 
my way around the walls and outside the city 
as well and perhaps better than anyone in 
Leyden. And I want to do something! I 
can’t sit around idle while all are helping in 
one way or another. Why dost thou look so 
white and frightened, Jacqueline U’ 

^‘Ah, Gysbert! thou must not do this! 
Thou wilt surely be captured and killed. 
Ah! I cannot allow it, nor will Vrouw Voor- 
haas!” 

‘‘Vrouw Voorhaas must not know of it, — 
at least at first. And thou must not inter- 
fere with me, dear sister. I know that our 
father, were he alive, would approve of my 
decision. Did he not always tell us to be 
courageous, and would he not wish us to 
serve our city in this great distress?” This 
argument silenced Jacqueline’s remon- 
strances. 

“Do what thou wilt, Gysbert, since thou 
thinkest that our father would approve, only 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 4fl 


be not rash, and have a care for thy life. 
What would I do if thou wert taken from me, 
brother r’ 

^^I will be most cautious, sister, never fear 
for that!’’ 

^‘But how shall we keep it from Vrouw 
Voorhaas? She would lock thee in a room 
and never let thee out, did she but dream of 
thy decision!” 

“Thou mayst tell her that I am out helping 
with the defence of the city, if I fail to come 
back for too long a period. That will be the 
strict truth, yet not enough to alarm her se- 
riously,” answered Gysbert. 

“How absurdly worried and careful she 
has been about us, since the day we told her 
of the King’s Pardon and Dirk Willumhoog! 
She turned deathly white at the mention of 
his name, and I thought she was going to 
faint when we told her what he said before he 
left the gate. Dost thou remember, Gys- 
bert?” 

“Aye, but let me tell thee something else, 


4i2 JACQUELINE 

Jacqueline. What dost thou think of this? 
I saw Dirk Willumhoog in the city this morn- 
ing!^’ 

‘‘Gysbert! thou art surely joking! That 
cannot be possible. Since he was expelled 
from the city, how could he get back?’’ 

‘‘Ask me not how he got back, for I do not 
know. But the best of it is that he did not 
see me, and he was so disguised that had it 
not been for certain circumstances, I should 
never have known him. I had strolled up 
Hengist Hill after leaving the Breede Straat, 
and had climbed into a tree to get a better 
view of the Spanish army outside the walls. 
I was sitting in the branches very quietly, 
when a man in a long cloak and big slouching 
hat came out of the grove and sat down right 
under my tree. Thinking himself alone, he 
took oif his hat, threw aside his cloak, and 
then to my great surprise, pulled off the thick 
beard that covered his face ! 

“ ‘Ah, but it is hot!’ I heard him mutter. 
Then he stood up and stretched his arms, and 


OP THE CARRIER PIGEONS 43 


I all but lost my hold and fell out of the tree 
when I recognized who it was ! He sat down 
again and rested for half an hour, and I 
thought he would never go. Fortunately he 
did not once think of looking up or he would 
have certainly seen me. At last he donned 
his beard, hat and cloak, and sneaked off 
never dreaming who had watched his every 
movement ! I would give a good round florin 
to know what he is after ! ’ ’ 

‘‘Ah, I am sure it is some harm to us, he is 
plotting!’^ shuddered Jacqueline. “Dost 
thou recall his look of hate on that dreadful 
day, Gysbert? He has some reason for wish- 
ing us evil. ’ ’ 

“That may or may not be,’’ answered Gys- 
bert. “At any rate, I think he can do us but 
little harm. However, thou shouldst be 
careful about going abroad in the city alone, 
Jacqueline, Thou art not as strong as I.” 

“I go nowhere except to purchase our 
small allowance of food — thou knowst 
Vrouw Voorhaas never goes out at all now — 


44 JACQUELINE 

and to visit poor Jan Van Bnskirk once a 
day, and take him some soothing medicine. 
He says that nothing helps him like the 
decoction of my herbs, and nothing charms 
away his pain like the touch of my hands. 
Dost thou know, Gysbert, that he has been 
obliged to kill and eat most of his pigeons 
since food has been so short? I know not 
what he will do when they are gone ! ’ ’ 

‘‘We will share our food with him, Jac- 
queline. He has always been so kind to us, 
and taught us how to raise and train our 
pigeons. But now, let us to rest ! It is late, 
and I must see Burgomaster Van der Werf 
early to-morrow.’’ 

Poor Jacqueline’s sleep that night was 
restless and tormented by frightful dreams 
in which Gysbert ’s new and dangerous voca- 
tion, and the evil face of Dirk Willumhoog 
bore no inconspicuous part. Gysbert, on the 
contrary, slept sweetly and undisturbed as a 
year old baby, and rose next morning be- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 45 

times to seek what fortune he should meet in 
this new enterprise. 

Adrian Van der Werf sat alone in his 
great office in the statehouse. His fine face 
was clouded with an expression of intense 
gloom, and he shook his head gravely as he 
looked out over the besieged city. Was this 
fair spot to fall a prey to Spanish vengeance, 
as its sister cities had fallen? He saw no 
hope in present prospects, for a better fate. 
Presently an official opened the door and 
saluted him : 

‘^A small boy outside wishes to speak with 
your Worship.’’ 

‘‘Admit him,” answered the burgomaster. 
“I am not engaged at present.” Glancing 
up as Gysbert entered, his face lighted with 
a smile of recognition. 

“Ah! thou art the boy who warned us of 
the approach of the Spaniards ! Thou art a 
brave and thoughtful lad. What can I do 
for thee?” 


46 JACQUELINE 

‘‘Your Worship, I have a request to 
make,” answered Gysbert promptly. “I 
wish to serve my city by becoming a 
‘jumper.’ ” 

“A jumper — thou! But thou art scarce 
fourteen years of age, if I judge rightly. 
It would be wicked to expose one so young 
to such dangers!” exclaimed the astonished 
burgomaster. 

“Aye, your Worship, you have guessed 
my age correctly. But I am strong and 
agile, and know the walls and outlying dis- 
tricts well. Moreover, I have a plan that I 
trust will take me safely through the Span- 
ish lines.” 

“And what may be that plan?” demanded 
Van der Werf, more and more amazed. 

“This,” answered the boy. “I shall stain 
my skin and hair darker with walnut juice, 
that I may not be recognized. And pretend- 
ing to be somewhat half-witted, I shall go 
out among the Spanish troops peddling heal- 
ing herbs. My sister raises many such in 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 47 


her little garden and has tanght me much of 
their use. In this way I can most likely get 
through the lines, unsuspected and unmo- 
lested, and deliver any message to your faith- 
ful ones who are beyond.’’ 

‘‘It is a clever scheme !” admitted the won- 
dering burgomaster. “And if thou dost act 
thy part well, thou wilt be fairly safe.” 

“Likewise,” added Gysbert, “I have some 
carrier pigeons that have been exceedingly 
well-trained, and perchance could make them 
of use also.” 

“The very thing!” exclaimed Van der 
Werf. “Our stock of carrier pigeons waxes 
very low, having either died of starvation, 
or been eaten. I have been wondering where 
I should find well-fed, well-trained birds to 
fill their place. Canst thou take a couple at 
a time with thee! I must needs send some to 
William the Silent at Delft, else we will get 
no more messages from him.” 

“Aye, I can bind two and take them at the 
bottom of my bag of herbs,” answered Gys- 


48 


JACQUELINE 


bert. ‘‘I will wager for it that they shall be 
delivered safely.’’ Adrian Van der Werf 
spent a moment in silent consideration. 

“Thou art a brave and clever youth,” he 
said. “But thou must know that thou art 
risking much in this hazardous enterprise. 
However, God will watch over those who 
serve Him. Come to me to-morrow bringing 
two carrier pigeons, and I will instruct thee 
as to the message.” And Gysbert, highly 
pleased, departed for Belfry Lane, whistling 
lustily one of the popular songs of the day: 

“Beat the drums gaily, 

“Rub-dub a dub-dee! 

“Beat the drums gaily, 

“And the Spaniards will flee!” 


IN THE CAMP OF THE ENEMY 



CHAPTER IV 


m THE CAMP OF THE ENEMY 

I N tKe cold gray mist of earliest dawn, 
Gysbert crept silently through one of 
the city gates. So changed was his appear- 
ance that his own sister would scarcely have 
known him, had she not assisted in effecting 
his disguise, late the night before. His 
straight light hair had assumed a dark brown 
color, and his fresh rosy complexion had 
suddenly become as swarthy as any Span- 
iard's. His Dutch blouse, cap and wooden 
sabots were exchanged for garments of a 
more foreign cut, and in his hand he bore a 
large bag of assorted herbs, both green and 
dried. 

Thanks to an almost daily study of the 
Spanish camp from his perch on Hengist Hill, 
he had selected the most favorable quarter 
for his egress through the enemies’ ranks — 
51 


JACQUELINE 

the situation farthest removed from the head- 
quarters of commander Valdez. 

The camp had very much the appearance 
of a little city of mushroom growth — rows 
upon rows of tents, and here and there a hut 
of larger proportions hastily constructed of 
boards. In the middle of one tented street 
had been erected a rude shrine protected by 
an awning, at which knelt a priest celebra- 
ting the early morning mass. The tinkle of 
the silver bell calling to service was the only 
sound that broke the silence. Gysbert pro- 
ceeded cautiously, rejoicing at every step 
that took him unmolested on his way, when 
suddenly a rough command arrested his prog- 
ress: 

^‘Halt! The password! What art thou 
doing here ? ’ ’ 

^^Requesens!^^ answered Gysbert glibly, 
thanking his stars that the burgomaster had 
not failed to inform him of the Spanish pass- 
word for the day. Van der Werf had two 
or three trusted spies in the Spanish army. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 53 

who kept him well posted as to their daily 
plans and watchwords. 

Requesens! is correct enough,’’ replied 
the sentinel, ‘‘but who art thou, and where 
art thou going so early?” 

“I am a Glipper,” answered Gyshert in 
a sing-song nasal voice. “I come from the 
city. We are starving there. I sell these 
healing herbs in order to get some food.” 
Now a Glipper was the name given to any 
Hollander who sympathized with Spain, and 
they were as a rule very favorably regarded 
by the Spaniards. Gyshert, being naturally 
truthful, disliked exceedingly to thus falsify 
himself, but consoled his conscience with the 
motto — ‘All’s fair in war.’ The sentinel 
looked him over suspiciously, hut concluded 
that he had not the appearance of a genuine, 
out-and-out Dutch boy. Moreover, it was 
evident from his speech and expression that 
he was not blessed with more than half the 
usual quantity of wits. 

“Well, little fool, I will let thee pass, pro- 


64} JACQUELINE 

vided thou wilt supply me with something 
healing for this wound in my hand where the 
gunpowder from my musket burned me, yes- 
terday morn.” Gysbert hunted in his bag, 
brought out a small bundle of dried leaves, 
and recited as if by rote : 

‘‘Thou shalt steep these in boiling water. 
Thou shalt make a poultice with the leaves 
thus steeped. Thou shalt bind it on thy 
wound. In two days thou shalt be better.” 

“Thanks, little numbskull! Thy poultice 
and not thy wits have saved thee ! And now, 
cut away quickly!” Availing himself not 
too hastily of the permission, Gysbert 
strolled away as if there were not a thought 
of danger in his mind. But no sooner was 
he out of sight of the sentinel than he took 
to his heels and ran swiftly and silently 
through the still sleeping camp. 

“If only I can reach the outskirts before 
they waken, all will be well!” he thought. 
Once again only, at the edge of the encamp- 
ment, he was challenged by another sentry. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 65 


But the password given, he was allowed to 
go on without question, by a sentinel whose 
one sleepy thought was the bed into which 
he hoped soon to turn. Once on the high- 
road to Delft, Gysbert’s troubles were for the 
time over, and he abandoned himself to a 
leisurely walk, and to the enjoyment of his 
breakfast, a stale malt-cake which he 
munched contentedly as he trudged along. 

Then the sun rose, the morning mist 
evaporated, and the waters of the canal 
sparkled like jewels in the clear air of the 
July day. A lazy boat with one big brown 
sail edged its way slowly along the canal in 
the direction of Delft. 

^‘I might as well save my strength,^’ 
argued Gysbert to himself, ‘‘and what is 
more, I have time in quantities to spare. Hi ! 
— Herr Captain, I pray you take me on your 
gallant bark!^’ The captain looked up from 
a sail he was mending, and scanned the boy 
from head to foot. 

“I like thee not,’^ he answered. “Thou 


56 JACQUELINE 

hast too mucli of the Spaniard about thee, lit- 
tle frog ! Thine own two good feet can carry 
thee ! ^ ’ Gysbert was secretly delighted that 
his disguise was so effective, but hastened to 
add: 

‘‘Good Herr Captain, you are much mis- 
taken. Look you!’^ And from the bottom 
of his bag he pulled out two pigeons bound 
and helpless. 

“These be carriers!’’ he announced. “I 
am commissioned by Burgomaster Van der 
Werf to take them to our Prince at Delft. 
Also I have a message, but that is in my 
mind.” Instantly the captain’s surly man- 
ner changed. 

“Come aboard! Come thou aboard!” he 
called heartily. ‘ ‘ Thou art a small lad but a 
clever one. Here, catch this plank!” In 
two minutes Gysbert, comfortably ensconced 
in the stern, had curled himself up to finish 
the morning nap, with which his early expe- 
dition had seriously interfered. In due 
time this easy-going vessel reached the Gate 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 57 


St. Catherine, the principal entrance to Delft, 
and Gysbert disembarking, thanked the good- 
natured captain for his assistance. 

‘‘No thanks to me, youngster,’’ replied the 
man. “It’s all for the good cause, and my 
name is Joris Fruytiers, shouldst thou ever 
meet me and need my help again. ’ ’ 

Gysbert set oif with all speed to the 
Prinsenhof, the palace where William the 
Silent held his headquarters. One of the 
boy’s greatest desires in life was to see and 
speak with this great Father of his country, 
the Prince of Orange, who had been for sev- 
eral years his hero and idol. Hence his er- 
rand was all the more delightful to him since 
it was to afford him this coveted oppor- 
tunity. 

But this time he was doomed to disap- 
pointment. The Prince was away at Eotter- 
dam, and his commissioner, Paul Buys, took 
the message in his stead. It was to the ef- 
fect that the people of Leyden implored im- 
mediate help. They were on the point of 


58 JACQUELINE 

facing starvation, and feared lest the weaker 
ones would lose courage and yield up the 
city. Paul Buys sent word back to Van der 
Werf that the Prince of Orange was on the 
point of putting into execution a scheme of 
release that he had long been considering, 
and would send word by one of the carrier 
pigeons when he was ready to put it into 
effect. 

Buys then told Gysbert that hereafter he 
would not have to come as far as Delft with 
the pigeons, but could leave them at the 
farmhouse of Julius Van Shaick, not far 
beyond Leyden, from whence they would be 
conveyed to Delft in safety. Before the 
boy left for his homeward journey, Buys 
superintended him in the disposal of such a 
meal as he had not seen for many a long day, 
and he sighed only that he could not convey 
some of it to Jacqueline and Vrouw Voor- 
haas. 

Trusting to no slow-moving canal vessel, 
but relying mainly on the swiftness of his 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 59 

strong young legs, lie accomplished the fif- 
teen miles back to Leyden in four hours, and 
at nightfall reached once more the outskirts 
of the Spanish camp. But his passage 
through the enemy’s midst was not destined 
to be as uneventful as that of the morning. 

The camp streets were bustling with life 
and activity. Soldiers promenaded up and 
down, women — the few who had chosen to 
follow their husbands’ fortunes — called to 
each other shrilly from the tent-doors, and 
even some children ran hither and thither in 
garments of startling untidiness. Gysbert 
hoped to escape notice in the general con- 
fusion, but in this he was mistaken. A sud- 
den hand was laid in no gentle manner on 
his shoulder, and a voice from behind de- 
manded : 

^‘The password!” 

^^BequesensV^ he replied confidently. 

‘^In that thou art much in error!” an- 
swered the soldier. ^‘Dost thou think that 
the password does not change from day to 


60 JACQUELINE 

day? Thou art twelve hours too late. 
Come thou with me!’’ and he led Gysbert to 
the door of a tent which was empty and 
lighted only by a large fire outside. 

^^Here, Alonzo de Eova!” he called to a 
burly sentinel. ‘‘Guard this young inter- 
loper till I have time to report him to Com- 
mander Valdez.” 

“Now,” thought Gysbert, “lam caught in 
earnest! But without seeming to possess 
any wits, I will try to use those the good God 
has given me as skillfully as I can.” Alonzo 
de Eova paced up and down before the tent 
door for a time, apparently utterly ignoring 
the boy, yet in reality watching him keenly. 

Gysbert on his part kept his eyes well 
open, yet assumed the vacant gaze he had at- 
tempted in the morning. Presently he took 
up a charred stick from the fire that hap- 
pened to lie near him, and with it commenced 
to make some strokes on the white canvas 
of the tent. 

“What art thou doing?” demanded De 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 61 


Rova, and lie drew near curiously to examine 
the marks. 

‘‘Why, by the Pope!’^ he exclaimed. “It 
is myself — my very self as I stand here with 
my musket! Thou canst indeed draw, little 
stranger! WTio art thouT^ 

“I am a Glipper,’’ repeated Gysbert mo- 
notonously. “I sell healing herbs. I also 
can draw.’’ 

“Art thou indeed a Glipper? Well, that 
is not so bad! And look thou here! Canst 
draw a good portrait of me on fine paper?” 

“Aye, I can!” answered Gysbert in his 
adopted nasal tone. 

“Well, thou hast evidently not all the wits 
that God usually gives us, but thou shalt 
try, ’ ’ said De Rova, and he drew from his be- 
longings a sheet of paper, and what stood 
for a pencil in those days. 

“Draw me well, little Glipper! Make of 
me a fine figure, for I wish to send it to my 
sweetheart in Madrid, and we will see what 
can be done for thee !” Drawing himself up 


62 JACQUELINE 

to his full height he assumed a martial posi- 
tion, ready for the likeness. He was truly 
a splendid specimen of a soldier, and evi- 
dently very proud of his magnificent pro- 
portions. Gysbert seized the pencil and 
paper, and went to work with a will. Never 
had he striven so hard to give satisfaction, 
never had so much been at stake, never had 
his art stood him in such good stead. When 
the picture was finished Alonzo de Eova was 
profuse in expressing his wonder and delight, 
and slipped a coin into the boy’s hand. 

‘ ‘ And now, little artist, fly ! Slip away un- 
der the back of the tent, when I am not look- 
ing and no one will be the wiser. The captain 
who caught thee is a good friend of mine, 
and beside I will tell him thou art a Glipper. 
Eemember Alonzo de Eova, and if thou dost 
ever come to the camp again I will put thee 
in the way of earning a pretty penny, for 
there are many like me who would gladly sit 
for their portraits. I doubt not but that 
thou couldst make a florin a day at that work. 









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OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 63 


One more word of advice — tlie password for 
to-night is Phillip. Farewell!” With that 
he turned his back on the boy and commenced 
pacing up and down before the fire. 

Gysbert lost not a moment’s time, but act- 
ing on the friendly soldier’s suggestion 
slipped out through a loose flap at the back of 
the tent. Thanks to the now dense darkness 
and his knowledge of the password, he es- 
caped safely through the camp to the Cow 
Gate, where giving a peculiar knock pre- 
viously concerted between himself and the 
gatekeeper, he once more stood secure within 
the city walls. Speeding homeward to Bel- 
fry Lane he murmured to himself : 

have accomplished the mission without 
mishap, and have also made two friends. 
On the whole, I think I have not done so 
badly!” 















THE DECISION OF JACQUELINE 



• ■ 11 « 











CHAPTEE V 


THE DECISION OF JACQUELINE 

O N the morning of Gysbert’s first ven- 
ture into the midst of the enemy, Jac- 
queline rose with a very heavy heart. She 
helped her brother with the last prepara- 
tions for his departure, aided him in escap- 
ing the vigilant eye of Vrouw Voorhaas who 
was already at work though the hour was so 
early, and bade him a tearful farewell as he 
sped down the silent street. But her mind 
was full of foreboding, and she felt as though 
she could never live through the time till he 
should return in safety. To pass the weary 
hours and otherwise occupy her thoughts, 
she assisted Vrouw Voorhaas with the daily 
routine of housework, cleaned the pigeon- 
house, and fed her eighteen remaining pets 
67 


68 JACQUELINE 

with a scanty supply of their rapidly dimin- 
ishing stock of corn. 

Vrouw Voorhaas had many questions to 
ask concerning the whereabouts of Gysbert 
whom she had not seen that day. Jacque- 
line parried these as best she could, explain- 
ing that he had gone off early to execute 
some errands for Burgomaster Van der 
Werf. Her companion, unconvinced that all 
was as it should be, and vaguely uneasy 
about her youngest charge, accepted the 
explanation somewhat distrustfully. To 
change the subject Jacqueline began to talk 
about their supply of food and to make plans 
for husbanding it to the last crumb. While 
she was talking her gaze suddenly riveted 
itself on the tall form of the older woman. 

‘‘Why Vrouw Voorhaas,’^ she exclaimed, 
“how thin thou art growing! See, thy 
dress dost hang about thee in great folds, and 
thine arms almost show the bones! Surely 
we have not yet come to the pass when such 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 69 

loss of flesh would be noticeable ! Wbat bast 
tbou been doing?” 

‘‘Nothing, nothing, child!” exclaimed the 
woman hastily. “I eat as heartily as our 
supply of food will permit, but the hot 
weather always did reduce my flesh. Hurry 
away now, and see what thou eanst purchase 
at the market, but try not to be seen too 
prominently. Young people are not too safe 
in the streets in these wild times. Art going 
to visit old Jan to-day?” 

“Yes,” answered Jacqueline. “He grows 
worse and worse, though I do my best to aid 
him. There seems to be something else ail- 
ing him beside just his lumbago, but I cannot 
quite make out what it is, and he will not 
see a physician. I will go out and gather 
some fresh herbs now to take with me.” 

The girl took her little basket and went 
out to her patch of garden at the back of the 
house. Gay flowers bloomed in one half of 
it, but the other was devoted to the cultiva- 


70 JACQUELINE 

tion of the medicinal herbs whose healing 
properties she had carefully studied in the 
old book belonging to her father. First she 
gathered a sweet-smelling bouquet of late 
roses and jasmine to cheer the eyes of old 
Jan, and then stooping among the herbs 
selected those most calculated to help his 
poor infirm body. When this was done she 
re-entered the house, added some malt-cakes 
and a bottle of Vrouw Voorhaas’s cooling 
homemade wine, and proceeded on her errand 
of comfort. 

Jan Van Buskirk’s home was on a tiny 
street just off the Marendorfstrasse, and to 
reach it Jacqueline was obliged to take a 
rather circuitous route that led through the 
poorest section of the city. What she saw 
there on that day tore her gentle heart with 
an agony of sympathy. The weather was 
extremely hot and oppressive, and every one 
seemed to have sought the coolness of the 
shaded street in preference to the little suf- 
focating rooms. Pale, emaciated children 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 71 

thronged the doorways, many gnawing on 
dry unsightly bones from which the last ves- 
tige of meat had long since disappeared. 
Sick babies wailed fretfully, white, haggard 
men and women strove in vain to comfort 
them. And here and there lay stretched on 
an improvised cot the form of some person 
desperately ill, moaning piteously. Jacque- 
line contrasted the scene with these same 
comfortable, happy people of a few months 
before and her heart grew rebellious at the 
mighty suffering entailed in just the little 
word ‘‘war.” “Is there no help, — ^no help 
for it?” she asked herself. 

Jan Van Buskirk was worse, unquestion- 
ably worse than when she had visited him be- 
fore, and his condition alarmed her seriously. 
He was tossing from side to side, rolling his 
head feverishly, and muttering incoherent 
words ; nor did he seem in the least to recog- 
nize his little friend. Jacqueline quietly de- 
termined that it was high time he had more 
expert medical • advice than she could offer, 


'72 


JACQUELINE 


and went out hastily to seek the nearest phy- 
sician. Dr. Pieter de Witt was hard to 
find for his duties were long and arduous in 
these dreadful days, but finally she dis- 
covered him in the house of a poor family all 
sick but the mother who could hardly drag 
herself around. Hearing Jacqueline’s er- 
rand he made haste to accompany her. One 
glance at the unconscious Jan told him the 
tale. 

‘‘My,girl,” he said, turning to Jacqueline, 
‘‘go away from here as speedily as thou canst. 
This man has the plague. It has broken out 
in several parts of the city, owing to bad 
food or none at all, and this man has caught 
it. Thou art exposing thyself to a terrible 
disease and almost certain death. This is 
no place for thee. Go home, and I will take 
care of the man to the best of my ability, but 
I doubt if he will live, even so.” 

Jacqueline’s eyes opened wide with a 
startled look, and she glanced uncertainly at 
Jan. The sick man stirred restlessly, then 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 73 

with a sudden cry muttered her name in his 
feverish sleep. At that word the girl formed 
her decision. 

‘‘I will not go, Dr. de Witt. This man has 
been a friend to me and mine ever since I 
can remember. I do not fear the plague, and 
even if I did it would not keep me from giv- 
ing all the aid I could to Jan Van Buskirk. 
Moreover, I know a little about medicine my- 
self, having read it in an old book in my 
possession. I have raised healing herbs, and 
I also possess one which has the power, they 
say, to protect from such diseases if carried 
about the person. I will always have it by 
me, for I wish to help you in nursing this my 
friend hack to life and health.’^ Dr. de 
Witt looked her over for a moment in silent 
astonishment. Then he spoke: 

‘‘Thou art a brave maiden, whoever thou 
art, and I would that there were many more 
like thee ! Help me thou shalt if such is thy 
determination, and the good God will bless 
thee and protect thee from all harm. There 


74 


JACQUELINE 


is much in having absolutely no fear of this 
contagion, and I see thou hast none. With 
thy help we may perhaps save our old friend 
and neighbor.’’ Together they labored over 
the old man, and before he left, the doctor 
expressed his amazed approval of the skill 
and knowledge exhibited by this fair slip of 
a girl in tending and administering to the 
sick. Beyond this too, something in her 
manner, her look and her speech indefinably 
recalled to him old recollections. 

‘^Thou dost constantly put me in mind of 
some one,” he remarked finally. ‘‘Hadst 
thou ever any relation who was a physician? 
What is thy father?” 

have no father,” answered the girl with 
the reticence she had learned to exhibit 
through Vrouw Voorhaas’s teaching. ‘‘He 
is long since dead.” 

“But what is thy last name?” persisted 
the good doctor. 

“Coovenden,” replied Jacqueline with the 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 75 

hesitancy she could never quite overcome in 
pronouncing this assumed title. 

‘‘Coovenden? Ah, it is not a name that I 
recognize — and yet' there is something, — ^I 
know not what, which stirs me!’' And he 
went away shaking his head thoughtfully. 
On her way home Jacqueline stopped at the 
public market to purchase what scarce sup- 
ply of provisions she was able to obtain. 

‘‘But this is a miserable little cabbage!” 
she expostulated mildly to the huckster who 
served her. “And see! this mutton-bone 
has scarce any meat upon it. ’Twill be 
watery soup that is made from this mess!” 

“And lucky thou art to have any soup at 
all!” answered the market-woman. “I tell 
thee, girl, the time is coming when we shall 
be glad to eat the grass that grows in the 
streets, and that’s not far distant, either. I, 
for one would gladly see the gates opened to 
the Spaniards. They are better at least 
than slow starvation!” Jacqueline shrank 


76 JACQUELINE 

away from her at these words so like dis- 
loyalty to the great cause, and hurried home 
with the news she had to tell. 

As the day wore on, Vrouw Voorhaas be- 
came more and more uneasy about Gyshert, 
and questioned his sister so closely about his 
absence that she had hard work quieting the 
woman’s fears and at the same time hiding 
the truth about him. She herself was beset 
by more definite terrors for his safety than 
Vrouw Voorhaas could even guess, and 
though she did not expect Gyshert before 
nightfall, counted the moments with ever-in- 
creasing agitation. 

Then darkness came and the two partook 
of their frugal supper, laying aside a gener- 
ous portion for the boy. One by one the 
stars twinkled out. Jacqueline, sitting by 
the window tried to count them to distract 
her thoughts. Her mind reverted again and 
again to the scenes of the morning, and the 
pictures of the suffering she had witnessed 
would not fade from her consciousness. As 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 77 

she sat leaning her head against the case- 
ment, she was suddenly startled by having 
two hands clapped over her eyes, and a voice 
whispering in her ear : 

‘‘Guess who it is!^’ 

“Gysbert!^’ she exclaimed. “How didst 
thou get inV^ 

“Hush! I slipped in through the garden 
and climbed to my window up the rose- trel- 
lis. I did not want Vrouw Voorhaas to see 
my disguise, and have washed it all off and 
changed my clothes. Where is sheT’ 

“In her room,’’ answered his sister, “and 
right anxious about thee, I can warrant! 
But tell me all about it, Gysbert!” 

In hasty sentences the boy told her of his 
day’s adventures. She listened with breath- 
less interest, and shuddered not a few times 
at the narrowness of his escapes. Then she 
recounted to him her own experiences, and 
told of Jan Van Buskirk’s illness and dan- 
ger. When she had finished they sat to- 
gether in the darkness for a long time with- 


78 


JACQUELINE 


out speaking. Finally Jacqueline took her 
brother ’s hand in hers and said : 

‘‘Gysbert, thine own bravery and the dark 
scenes I have witnessed to-day have set me 
thinking, and to-night I have made my re- 
solve. Since thou hast given thyself to the 
dangerous task of assisting our beloved city, 
I, too, can do no less than devote myself to 
the relief of some of its suifering. To-mor- 
row I shall seek Dr. de Witt and ask him to 
allow me to accompany him in his visits to 
the sick and starving. I can aid in nursing 
them, at least, since God has given me that 
power. 

Gyshert returned his sister ^s clasp, but 
continued in silence for some moments. 
Truth to tell, he was struggling with a lump 
that had risen in his throat, and was glad 
that the darkness hid the tears that had 
gathered under his lashes. The experience 
of the last few days and weeks had helped to 
give him a poise beyond his years, hut his 
admiration for his sister ^s quiet courage al- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 79 

most deprived him of words with which to 
express it. Presently, however, he got up 
and pujfc his arms around her neck. 

“Jacqueline,’’ he said, trying to master 
the huskiness in his voice, “thou art very 
brave. I would rather go ten times into the 
heart of the Spanish army, than once into a 
room with the plague. But thou art right. 
It is thy destined work since thou hast chosen 
it, and our father, were he here, would 
surely say, ‘Well done!’ ” 



THE COMING OF THE FIEST PIGEON 












CHAPTER VI 

THE COMING OF THE FIEST PIGEON 


T he middle of August found the condi- 
tions in Leyden in no way improved but 
rather the worse, being just so many weeks 
nearer starvation. The poor had reached a 
point where they were indeed glad to get 
what nourishment they might from the grass 
that grew in the streets, and even the leaves 
from the trees that shaded the canals. Even 
the rich now suffered from the scantiness of 
provisions, and were fain to draw in their 
belts tightly to lessen the gnawing of con- 
stant hunger. 

Jacqueline and Gysbert had lost their 
fresh, rosy complexions and the roundness of 
their youthful curves, and looked white and 
thin. Yet they still fared better than some. 
Gysbert had made seven trips through the 
83 


84 JACQUELINE 

Spanish lines, each time bearing away two 
carrier pigeons, and bringing back when he 
could, a little supply of fresh food in his 
bag. The six remaining birds they had de- 
cided to kill and eat, one a week, so that they 
might have at least a taste of fresh un- 
tainted meat occasionally. It had cost Jac- 
queline many a pang to thus sacrifice her 
pets, but she could not see her dear ones suf- 
fer when it was in her power to give them 
food. 

GysberUs latest excursion outside the city 
walls had been successful, and without any of 
the excitement that had attended his first 
trip. He had chosen an entirely different 
quarter through which to pass, had met with 
either a friendly reception or indifference 
from those he met, and who freely purchased 
his herbs. He was taken without question 
for a Glipper, as he had announced himself 
to be, and his presence soon became a familiar 
figure in their midst. Then too, these expe- 
ditions were of much shorter duration than 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 85 

his first, since instead of travelling all the 
way to Delft, he had only to leave his mes- 
sage and the pigeons at the farmhouse of 
Julius Van Schaick, a short distance from 
the city. He had thus far managed also to 
escape the vigilance of Vrouw Voorhaas, who 
now accepted without question the explana- 
tion of his executing errands for the burgo- 
master. 

And what of Jacqueline? Plague now 
raged through all the poorer sections of the 
city, — a dread disease brought on by im- 
proper nourishment or none at all. Dr. de 
Witt and J acqueline went their daily rounds, 
cheering, comforting, and administering med- 
icine and nourishment on every side. Never 
was a presence more welcome in a sick room 
than that of the slim, fair girl whom many 
in their delirium took to be an angel. Never 
was a touch more deft, light and soothing 
than hers. 

By her tender care, Jan Van Buskirk had 
been nursed through the awful scourge. He 


86 JACQUELINE 

was still as weak as a baby, yet able to crawl 
about bis room listlessly, and inquire after 
the progress of the siege. His admiration 
for, and devotion to the girl who had brought 
him safely through his peril was beyond all 
expression, and he did little else when she 
was near, than follow her with his eyes in an 
ecstasy of dumb admiration. 

Vrouw Voorhaas utterly disapproved of 
Jacqueline’s mission to the sick, and spared 
no pains to make her disapproval known. 
She was constantly in terror lest the girl her- 
self should become infected, and scolded, 
muttered and sighed whenever Jacqueline 
prepared to go out. But the young girl’s 
determination was too firm to be shaken by 
the older woman’s expostulations, and her 
interest and devotion to the work had grown 
with her increasing responsibility. Dr. de 
Witt secretly marvelled at her quiet firm- 
ness, skill, and unflinching courage. More 
and more did he rack his brains to elucidate 
the mystery of her strange resemblance to 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 87 


someone he had once known or seen, but 
without result. 

‘‘Jacqueline, come up to Hengist Hill with 
me,’’ said Gysbert one hot, oppressive day 
about the twentieth of August. “Thou dost 
look white and tired, and needest a little 
change of air, and besides I want to talk to 
thee.” 

“Ah, Gysbert, the day is too hot, and I am 
very tired I Let us rest here in the house in- 
stead, ’ ’ replied the girl wearily. 

“Nay, the air is fresh and cool on the hill, 
and I have yet another reason for the expedi- 
tion. Come with me and thou wilt not regret 
it.” Yielding to his wish, Jacqueline accom- 
panied him through the blazing, sun-baked 
streets, striving for once not to see the mis- 
ery that now lay open to the daylight all 
about them. But Gysbert was right, — the 
Hill was a decided improvement on the 
heated atmosphere of the town. The grove 
was cool and pleasant and a refreshing breeze 
swept the summit. They sat down in the 


88 JACQUELINE 

shadow of the old fortress, and drew in great 
breaths of the life-giving salt air. 

‘‘Ah, it is good to be here!’^ exclaimed 
Gysbert “Art thou not glad we came, 
Jacqueline? And now let me ask a question. 
Answer truly I What hast thou had to eat 
to-day!^’ 

“Oh, I had plenty answered the girl 
evasively. “The weather is so hot that I 
cannot eat much.” 

‘ ‘Now, look thou here I ” he replied. ‘ ‘ For 
breakfast this morning we had some watery 
gruel of our pigeon grain, and a thin slice of 
malt-cake apiece. I saw thee eat the gruel, 
but the cake disappeared quickly in some 
mysterious way. Jacqueline, didst thou 
save it to take to Jan?” 

“Well, yes, I suppose so,” she faltered, 
cornered so cleverly that she could not deny 
it. 

“Very well!” replied Gysbert with de- 
cision. “Then I will tell him the next time 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 89 

I go there, that thou art starving thyself to 
feed him!’’ 

‘‘No, no, Gysbert!” she cried in genuine 
alarm, “thou must not do that! It would 
grieve him unto death, for I have told him 
that we have plenty.” 

“Ah! does that worry thee? Then if thou 
wilt do something to please me, I promise 
not to tell him.” 

“Yes, yes,” said Jacqueline eagerly. 
“Anything, Gysbert, will I do if thou wilt 
only keep that secret!” The boy did not 
answer, but running to the wall of the for- 
tress, lifted a good-sized stone and took from 
the hollow underneath something which he 
brought to his sister. It was the legs and 
body of a wild rabbit which had been pre- 
pared and cooked evidently before an open 
fire. 

‘ ‘ Why, Gysbert ! ’ ’ exclaimed J acqueline 
in astonishment. “WTiere didst thou get 
this?” 


90 JACQUELINE 

brought down the rabbit with a stone, 
here on the Hill early this morning. Then 
I skinned him, dressed him, built a fire and 
roasted him before it, and hid him away in a 
cool place for our treat this afternoon. 
Thou must eat exactly half of it now, or I 
will tell Jan all about thy deception.” 

^‘But Vrouw Voorhaas!” said the girl, 
doubtfully. ‘‘We ought to take some of it 
to her.” 

“Nay,” he answered. “I have watched 
her, and I know what she does, also. She 
would thank us and put it aside, only to 
present it to us at another meal, saying she 
could not eat it herself. And what is more, 
she never would eat it, if we left it till it 
rotted away, so we might just as well finish it 
now.” 

Together they divided the doubtful dainty, 
and devoured it as though it were the per- 
fection of epicurean cookery; never did a 
meal taste sweeter to these half-famished 
children, as they sat nibbling the last vestige 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 91 


of meat from the bones, and feeling new life 
renewed within them. 

‘‘Now,’’ said Gysbert, when they had fin- 
ished, “let me tell thee all about my last 
trip through the besieging lines yesterday, 
and the messages I bore. Mynheer Van der 
Werf sent very discouraged word to our 
good Prince of Orange. The city, he said, 
was on the brink of starvation, the bread was 
gone, and the malt-cakes would hold out but 
four days more. Moreover, the people had 
fulfilled the promise made in the beginning 
of the siege, — they had held out two months 
with food and one month without, and human 
strength could do no more. 

“Mynheer Paul Buys, himself, was at the 
farmhouse and took the message and the pi- 
geons. He said the number of birds was now 
sufficient and I need bring no more unless 
these should all return before the siege was 
over. Then he sent by word of mouth, this 
reply to the burgomaster. ‘The Prince 
begs you to hold out a few days more, as 


92 


JACQUELINE 


his scheme for relief has already begun to 
be put into execution. In a day or two a 
carrier pigeon will come from him telling 
all about it.’ 

‘‘Jacqueline, I have guessed what that re- 
lief is going to be! A few chance words 
dropped by Mynheer Buys and an exclama- 
tion from the burgomaster has made me cer- 
tain of it. Ah! it is a great thought, — 
great indeed ! — and like our wonderful 
Prince to dare it. Canst thou imagine what 
it is?” 

“Nay,” said the girl, wonderingly, “I can- 
not.” 

“Look!” cried Gysbert, pointing in the di- 
rection of the ocean. “Dost thou see that 
huge bulk across the Ehine about five miles 
from here? That is the greatest outer bar- 
rier, the Land-scheiding. See how it keeps 
back the ocean ! Dost thou guess now what 
is happening?” 

“Not, — ” hesitated the girl, “not that the 
dykes have been pierced!” 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 93 


‘^Just that! just that I cried her brother, 
it not wonderful? The Prince is calling 
the ocean to his aid, since he cannot raise 
an army. The Spaniards will drown like 
rats in a tank!’’ Jacqueline looked doubt- 
ful, and not quite convinced. 

‘‘But the land!” she said. “It will ruin 
all the farms and crops between here and the 
ocean. And think of all the labor that has 
been spent on the dykes to shut out the sea. 
When will they ever be able to rebuild these 
barriers and shut out the waters?” 

“That will all come in good time,” he re- 
plied. “First, it is most important to get 
rid of this Spanish pest. Did I not hear 
Mynheer Van der Werf himself mutter, 
‘Better a drowned land than a lost one!’ It 
was this exclamation that put me on the 
track.” 

“Dost say that the Prince sends word that 
the scheme is already begun ? ’ ’ asked J acque- 
line. 

“Yes, and I think I know what he has done. 


94 JACQUELINE 

Mynheer Buys was telling me that he has 
but lately been to Kappelle and Schiedam. 
I will wager that they have pierced the dykes 
all the way from here to Eotterdam, and 
even as far as Kappelle. But the tide does 
not rise high at this time of the year, and 
there is only an east wind, so that the water 
flows in slowly. But see! see!’’ and he 
pointed far off in the sky, where a tiny speck 
floated, — a mere golden moat in the sunshine. 
I feel certain that is one of our pigeons, 
Jacqueline. He flies like ‘William of Or- 
ange.’ ” 

“Thou hast good eyes, Gyshert! I can 
see nothing but a faint speck. Let us watch 
it, though.” Together they waited in 
breathless suspense, while the speck drew 
nearer and assumed more definite shape. 

“Look how the left wing droops a trifle. 
I know that is ‘William of Orange’!” cried 
Gysbert. In an incredibly short time the 
bird had passed the limits of the city wall. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 95 

had drawn closer and closer, and at last 
passed directly over their heads. 

So close to the summit of the Hill was its 
flight that they could faintly hear the whir 
of its wings. When it was close above them, 
all doubt as to its identity vanished, and be- 
sides, it was making straight in the direc- 
ton of Belfry Lane. Without waiting a mo- 
ment they rushed down the hill, their bodies 
refreshed by their meal of none too well 
cooked rabbit meat, their courage restored by 
the hope of speedy deliverance for the city. 

They found when they reached the house 
that the pigeon had been long before them, 
Vrouw Voorhaas declaring that she had let 
it in some half an hour previously. Up to 
the dove-cote they clambered, breathless 
and excited, to behold ‘‘William of Orange’’ 
strutting about proudly, preening his ruffled 
feathers, and cooing plaintively to be fed. 
Gyshert found a message tied about the 
bird’s leg. As fast as his feet would carry 


96 JACQUELIKE 

him, he flew to the statehouse to deliver the 
precious bit of paper into the hands of Ad- 
rian Van der Werf. But Jacqueline with a 
handful of corn coaxed the weary messenger 
to alight on her arm. When he had eaten 
his fill, she cuddled his head under her soft 
chin, and stroked his brilliant plumage. 

^William of Orange,’ ” she crooned, 
^‘thou art well-called. The city owes much 
to thee, and to thy great namesake!” 


A SWIM IN THE CANAL AND WHAT 
CAME OP IT 


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CHAPTER VII 

A SWIM IN THE CANAL AND WHAT CAME OP IT 

T he message brought by the pigeon 
proved to be word direct from the 
Prince of Orange himself to the people of 
Leyden. He implored them to take courage, 
and explained what means he had taken to 
effect their relief. The plan was what Gys- 
bert had suspected, but was of even wider 
scope. Not only had all the dykes been rup- 
tured and the water had begun to rise upon 
the Land-scheiding, but also the Prince had 
been rapidly collecting provisions in all the 
principal cities and towns near by and was 
loading them on a fleet of vessels ready to 
sail across the land to Leyden when the flood 
would permit. Thus the same waters that 
were to rout the Spanish army were to bear 
life and food to the suffering city. It was 
i . 99 


100 JACQUELINE 

truly a daring and original plan, and Van 
der Werf^s stern, harassed countenance 
lighted with joy when he read the missive. 

^‘Eing the bells!’’ he commanded. ‘‘Call 
a meeting of the populace in the great 
square! Order the military hands to play 
inspiriting music ! Fire the cannons and 
sing lustily! Surely this news must put 
heart into the people!” 

Then such a bedlam of sounds as rose 
within the walls of Leyden ! Not for months 
had there been such a stir and life in the 
streets of the half-dead city. The Spaniards 
outside, hearing the revelry and not in the 
least understanding its cause; gazed at each 
other in amazement and could only con- 
jecture that a great army must he coming 
to the relief of their foes. But they were not 
long to remain in doubt. That night a senti- 
nel rushed into the camp shouting : 

“The water! the water! It stands ten 
inches deep all round the outskirts of the 
Land-scheiding ! The dykes, have all been 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 101 

pierced!’’ And swift consternation seized 
them, as they began to grasp the meaning of 
the shouts of joy within the walls of Leyden. 

But a week passed, and the waters did not 
continue to rise. The low tides and the con- 
stant east winds were most unfavorable to 
the present flooding of the land. Confi- 
dence was restored to the Spanish army, and 
in the city the recent joy faded away as sud- 
denly as it had come. Dull distrust reigned 
unchecked, and the Glippers of whom there 
were not a few in the town, lost no oppor- 
tunity to scoif at ‘ This mad hopeless scheme 
of the Prince’s,’ as they called it. 

‘‘Go up to the Tower on Hengist Hill,” 
they would cry scornfully to the patriots, 
“and see if the ocean is coming over the dry 
land to your relief!” Then it came to be 
that Hengist Hill was haunted day and night 
by anxious, hunger-stricken men and women, 
watching, hoping, trusting, praying that 
some help might come to the famished city. 

Meantime the weather continued stifling 


102 JACQUELINE 

and unbearable, and sickness, death and the 
plague raged in Leyden. Jacqueline had 
her heart and hands full with her newly as- 
sumed duties. But Gysbert, not having 
lately any mission to execute beyond the 
walls, found time hanging rather heavily on 
his hands. One muggy, oppressive morning 
he determined, for lack of anything better to 
do, to seek some secluded spot and indulge 
in a refreshing swim in one of the less-fre- 
quented canals. 

Beaching a shaded spot sufficiently iso- 
lated for his purpose, he divested himself of 
his garments, plunged in, and remained for 
half an hour swimming about idly in the cool 
water. At length concluding that his bath 
had been long enough, he drew himself out 
and was about to resume his clothes, when 
he happened to glance down the road that 
led by the canal. About a hundred yards 
ahead, a black-cloaked figure whose rear view 
struck him as somewhat familiar, was hurry- 
ing stealthily along. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 103 


‘‘By St. Pancras!’’ muttered Gysbert. 
“If that isn’t Dirk Willumhoog again! 
There’s mischief afoot!” Dropping his 
clothes he ran down the bank, slipped with- 
out noise into the water, and swam hurriedly 
in the direction of the retreating figure. 

“If I keep behind him close and to the 
bank,” thought the boy, “I can watch him 
yery well, and he’ll never suspect there is a 
soul around.” It did not take him long to 
catch up with the man he was pursuing. 
Most of the time he kept out of sight, but he 
rose occasionally far enough to poke his head 
over the edge of the canal and peep at his 
enemy. Once as he did so, he dropped back 
quickly, finding that Dirk had seated himself 
under a tree not five feet away. The man 
was busily engaged in examining the writing 
on some scraps of paper, or he would cer- 
tainly have seen the wet, tousled head poked 
suddenly up over the bank. 

“Whew!” thought Gysbert as he ducked, 
“but that was a narrow escape! I wonder 


104 JACQUELINE 

how long he’s going to sit mooning there! 
’Tis right unpleasant hanging here motion- 
less, and in spite of the heat, the water grows 
chilly.” But Dirk had evidently no inten- 
tion of moving at present, and Gysbert was 
obliged to shiver and wait for some time, be- 
fore the spirit moved the man to be gone. At 
length the crunch of footsteps on the gravel 
warned the boy that his enemy was once 
more on his way. It was a relief to swim 
again and limber up his stiffened body, but to 
his astonishment he found that they were 
drawing near to an unfrequented portion of 
the city near the walls, and that the canal- 
street would soon turn off in another direc- 
tion. 

‘‘Where can he be going!” questioned Gys- 
bert, as he poked up his head at the turn, and 
saw Dirk advancing straight on, apparently 
right to the wall itself. At that moment the 
man half turned his head and Gysbert ducked 
under hastily. When he again raised him- 
self, to his amazement Dirk had disappeared 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 105 


as completely as though the earth had opened 
up and swallowed him. 

^‘Has the rascal spread his cloak and flown 
over the wall, or has he changed his bodily 
substance and passed right through it, like 
the prince in the fairy taleT’ demanded 
Gysbert of the air about him. But as it was 
plain this would bring no solution of the 
enigma, he cautiously crept toward the wall, 
determined by some means to solve the mys- 
tery. 

From the turn of the canal to the wall was 
a distance of perhaps five hundred yards, an 
unoccupied space of ground like a meadow, 
broken by nothing save a little brook that 
connected with the canal. At the base of the 
wall this brook spread out for a space, like 
a miniature lake. Gysbert examined every 
inch of the ground attentively, without find- 
ing anything that might serve to enlighten 
him. At the face of the wall he stopped. 
Plainly no human being could scale at this 
point the high, smooth surface that con- 


106 


JACQUELINE 


fronted him. Dropping on his knees he ex- 
amined the base. ‘‘Nothing here!” he mut- 
tered, and waded into the tiny lake that 
spread out before him. 

Step by step he advanced, feeling carefully 
of the brick wall at every interval, to detect 
any possible weak spot, when suddenly his 
feet slipped into a deep hole, he was drawn 
under, and swept by the force of some swift 
current, through a small hidden aperture in 
the wall. When he came to the surface, he 
grasped at a projecting ledge, and tried to 
ascertain what had happened. It did not 
take him long to guess. The marshy land in 
and about Leyden was constantly intersected 
by the formation of new brooks and streams. 
Not infrequently they would undermine the 
very wall itself, and in times of peace, these 
defects were always carefully watched and 
remedied. But in the terrible strain under 
which the city had existed for the past 
months, this one had evidently passed un- 
noticed, and in truth, no one would have sus- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 107 

pected its presence from the inside of the 
city, so well was it hidden by the little spread- 
ing lake. 

‘^Now what ought I do nextT^ thought 
Gysbert when he had unravelled this mys- 
tery. ‘‘Without doubt this is Dirk’s secret 
doorway, and how he discovered it the Evil 
One only knows! The question is, should I 
try to explore it before he is well out of the 
way? I would hardly care to meet him in 
this black hole! On the other hand, I don’t 
believe he will remain in here a moment 
longer than he has to, and I’m freezing hang- 
ing here. I ’ll risk it ! ” 

So saying he plunged into the grim cave, 
and commenced his journey through the base 
of the great wall of Leyden. To his disgust 
he found that the stream did not penetrate 
straight from side to side, but turned and 
pierced through the length of the wall for 
many yards. The way was difficult enough, 
since he had to fight every inch of his prog- 
ress against the swift current, and once the 


108 JACQUELINE 

water deepened to such an extent that he was 
forced to swim. Moreover, unwarmed by 
any sun it was icy cold, and his limbs grew 
numb and his teeth chattered. 

For a moment panic seized him, and he 
felt sure he would never get out alive, but 
would drown in this horrible place. Then 
his natural courage again asserted itself, and 
he pressed steadily forward. At length the 
course of thr hidden stream changed again, 
a faint glimmer of daylight appeared, and in 
another moment he stood outside the walls 
of Leyden, protected from the gaze of the 
Spanish' camp only by a few bushes. No 
Dirk Willumhoog was to be seen, but there 
remained not a shadow of doubt that this was 
his mode of ingress to and exit from the city 
of Leyden. 

Gysbert lay down in the sunlight, and 
warmed his numbed body in its welcome heat. 
In half an hour’s time he had started on his 
return trip, and found it twice as easy as 
travelling in the opposite direction. Far 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 109 


from fighting the current he was helped along 
by it, and in a short time stood safe within 
the town again. Arrived there, another 
swim awaited him, for as he could not run 
through the town clad in nothing at all, he 
was obliged to take to the canal till he 
reached the spot where he had left his clothes. 
Once only he stopped to climb out and inves- 
tigate the place where Dirk had sat examin- 
ing his papers. As good luck would have it, 
he discovered hidden away in the grass 
where it had evidently fallen unnoticed, one 
of the scraps. On it were written a few 
words, evidently only a part of the whole, 
whatever that might have been. Gysbert 
read them and his eyes grew big with wonder, 
and then snapped angrily. ‘‘Ah, this is 
shameful!’’ he cried. “We’ll see about this, 
Dirk Willumhoog, thou traitor as well as 
coward!” 

With the paper in his mouth for safety, 
he plunged into the canal, swam to the point 
where he had left his clothes, flung them on 


no JACQUELINE 

hastily, and hurried home as fast as he could 
run. 

‘‘I shall have something to tell Jacqueline 
about this day^s work!^’ he remarked to him- 
self with great satisfaction. 


“TRANQUIL AMID RAGING BILLOWS” 



CHAPTEE Vin 

TRANQUIL AMID RAGING BILLOWS^' 

J ACQUELINE was not at home when Gys- 
bert arrived hot and breathless. She 
had been out all morning with Dr. de Witt on 
their usual errand of mercy, and Vrouw 
Voorhaas declared with much sullen com- 
plaining, that she could not he expected for 
an hour yet. So the hoy was compelled to 
fret and wander about idly till she appeared. 
When she came she looked desperately tired, 
hut she ascended cheerfully to the dove-cote 
with her brother, which place he chose as the 
safest and most secluded in which to impart 
his secret. 

‘‘I had the greatest adventure this morn- 
ing, Jacqueline!’’ he began. And while she 
listened eagerly, petting the smooth head of 
her finest pigeon and coaxing him with a lit- 
113 


114 JACQUELINE 

tie grain, Gysbert told of his swim in the 
canal and its results. When he came to the 
part concerning the discovery of the paper, 
he pulled it from his pocket and showed it to 
her. It was, as has been said, only a portion 
of the whole writing, and commenced at the 
top with the completion of some sentence be- 
gun on another piece : — 

‘‘ — evidently in Belfry Lane. 

‘‘The Prince is dangerously ill 
“in Rotterdam. We have conveyed 
“to him the report that Leyden 
“has surrendered. While this is 
“not yet true, the news will so 
“discourage him that it is 
“doubtful if he will recover — 

“Canst thou imagine anything more des- 
picable than thatr’ exclaimed Gysbert. 
“Our good Prince sickened unto death by 
such reports ! Something must be done 
about it.’’ 

“Shall thou go at once and tell Mynheer 
Van der Werf?” inquired his sister. 

“Well, I suppose I should, but then he 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 115 


would only send me off at once to deny the 
rumor, so I may just as well not lose the 
time.’’ 

“But, Gysbert, what can that mean at the 
first?” said Jacqueline, “ ‘ — evidently in 
Belfry Lane.’ Can it possibly refer to us?” 

“I do not doubt that it is just what it does 
refer to,” he replied. “He has, most likely, 
found out where we live. He means mis- 
chief, I tell thee, not only to the country but 
to us also, though what we have done to 
merit his attention, I cannot imagine.” 

“Thou didst anger him, Gysbert, that day 
at the gate, and he has not forgotten. But 
there is something else beside. What can it 
be? Ah, I fear harm is coming to us!” 

“Well, I for one am not going to think 
about that, when this other matter is so much 
more important,” replied Gysbert, charac- 
teristically. “This very night I shall dis- 
guise myself as usual, and make one more 
trip through the camp. As I must travel 
all the way to Rotterdam, I may not return 


116 


JACQUELINE 


for two or three days, so thou must explain 
it as best thou canst to Vrouw Voorhaas. I 
do not care much now what thou dost tell her, 
for she can do little to prevent my getting 
away if I choose/^ 

‘‘Ah, brother, I dread to have thee go! 
These be evil times, and I have a forebod- 
ing that all will not go well whilst thou art 
away. And yet I would not keep thee, for 
’tis more than wicked that our Prince should 
be so ill and so cruelly deceived. But thou 
must take a pigeon with thee, and send him 
to me with a message, if thou art detained 
over long, else I shall break my heart with 
anxiety, watching for thee.’’ 

At dawn next morning Gysbert set forth in 
his usual disguise carrying the pigeon “Wil- 
liam of Orange” at the bottom of his bag of 
herbs. Passing out through the gate of the 
Tower of Burgundy, he chose a route 
through a part of the army near that of his 
first attempt, since that way lay nearer to 
the road for Delft and Eotterdam. The 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 117 


usual sleeping camp lay all about him. The 
usual challenge from drowsy sentinels ar- 
rested his progress, but thanks to the magic 
countersign, ^^Don Carlos/^ which he had 
learned from the gatekeeper, he was no 
where detained. He accomplished the pas- 
sage of the camp with absolutely no molesta- 
tion or exciting incident, thinking that the 
feat was becoming very, very easy. 

On the road to Delft he looked along the 
canal to see if he might spy Joris Fruy tiers 
and his bulky craft. But the canal was de- 
serted, and he was obliged to make up his 
mind that his own two feet must carry him 
most of the way. As he trudged along, he 
could not but notice the exceeding muddi- 
ness of the road, and the farther he pro- 
ceeded, the worse did it become, till at length 
he found himself plowing through a veritable 
bog. 

‘‘This is singular!’’ was his first thought, 
and then, “Why, no it isn’t either! This is 
the result of the broken down dykes. How 


118 


JACQUELINE 


strange that I did not think of it at first!’’ 
And the worse it became, the more it pleased 
him, since it might mean ultimate relief and 
victory to the city. Finally he found himself 
wading through several inches of water, and 
he took infinite, boyish delight in slopping 
through its muddy depths, splashing the 
drops from side to side as he walked. In 
due time he reached Delft, and stopped to 
get a hearty meal at a baker’s shop, with a 
few coins he had in his pocket. Thus re- 
freshed and rested, he continued on his way. 

Darkness at length overtook him, and 
abandoning all hope of reaching Eotterdam 
that night, he crept into a farmer’s barn, and 
in the hayloft slept the sleep of healthy 
weariness, till the first streaks of dawn 
tinted the horizon. Trudging on his road 
again, without either a breakfast or the pros- 
pect of one, it was noon before he reached 
the goal of his desire, Eotterdam, where lay 
ill and despairing the idol of his boyish 
dreams, William, Prince of Orange-Nassau. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 119 

Gysbert had never been in Rotterdam, con- 
sequently he was compelled to inquire his 
way frequently. Ascertaining that the 
Prince was then stopping at a house on the 
Hoog Straat, and being directed to that 
thoroughfare, he was not long in arriving at 
his destination. It was a much smaller es- 
tablishment than the palace of the Prinsen- 
hof in Delft, and to the boy’s astonishment 
there seemed to be absolutely no one about 
the premises. The large front entrance was 
not locked, and having knocked in vain for 
many minutes, he pushed open the door and 
entered. 

Nothing greeted him but deserted halls 
and rooms. He lingered about in the corri- 
dors for a while, hoping that someone might 
come in. Then his attention became at- 
tracted by occasional groans and muttered 
ejaculations from the room above. Fearing 
that someone, possibly the Prince himself, 
might be in trouble, he decided to go up and 
see if he might render any assistance. He 


JACQUELINE 


120 

crept up softly, and guided by the sounds, 
reached an open doorway and peeped in. 

Tossing and moaning on a bed, lay the 
gaunt form of a man. One glance sufficed to 
convince Gysbert that it was William of Or- 
ange, and that he was desperately ill. Why 
the great head of his country should be thus 
deserted by every one of his attendants in his 
trouble, was more than Gysbert could fathom. 
A natural hesitancy, however, kept him from 
intruding on the privacy of the sick man’s 
bedroom, and he stood outside for a time, 
watching and wondering if there were any- 
thing he might do. 

The Prince lay in a huge, four-post bed, 
raised on a sort of dias or platform. At his 
feet on the coverlet sat a little brown and 
white spaniel, who whined plaintively as if 
in answer to his master’s groans. When 
Gysbert appeared in the doorway, the animal 
sprang up barking furiously, and tried to 
wake his master. But the Prince was at the 
time in a sort of stupor, and paid no heed to 








OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS m 


the animaPs cries. The dog soon perceived 
that the intruder attempted no harm, and 
settled himself in his former post. 

Gysbert knew well why the Prince was at- 
tended by this faithful beast. Two years be- 
fore at the siege of Mons, he had been sur- 
prised one night while asleep in his tent, by 
a party of Spaniards who had planned to 
capture him. A little spaniel who slept in 
his quarters sprang up barking and scratch- 
ing his hands. The Prince thus wakened 
found time to escape, but had it not been for 
the faithful little animal, the Netherlands 
would have lost their strongest protector. 
For the rest of his life, the Prince was never 
without a spaniel of the same breed who slept 
nightly in his room. 

Gysbert had ample time to note what man- 
ner of man was this his idol. His forehead 
was high, noble, and marked with many lines 
of care. The expression of his face, even 
racked with burning fever, was of a tender, 
strong and fatherly benignity. Near by lay 


m JACQUELINE 

his armor and sword, on the hilt of which was 
carved in Latin his chosen motto : — 

‘ ‘ Saevis tranquillus in iindis ! ’ ^ 
(‘‘Tranquil amid raging billows!’^) 

V 

No language could have better expressed 
the quiet firmness and unshaken courage of 
this wonderful nobleman, even in the most 
harrowing and adverse circumstances. 

The sick man was gradually emerging 
from unconsciousness. His eyes opened 
widely but unseeingly, and he muttered in a 
half-delirium : 

“Ah, Leyden, Leyden! Would God that I 
might help thee ! It is not true, it cannot be 
true that thou hast yielded to the enemy! 
Ah, my country! What fate is now before 
thee, and I so helpless to render thee aid ! — 
Tranquil, — tranquil ! — I must be tranquil 
amid the billows! — Oh, thou my God, help 
me! — ’’ Again unconsciousness overcame 
him, and he sank into another stupor. Gys- 
berUs heart ached with pity and the wild de- 
sire to tell him that his fears were groundless. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 123 


‘‘When he next wakes/’ thought the boy, “I 
will go in and tell him how false is this re- 
port he has heard.” Presently the Prince 
exhibited signs of returning consciousness, 
but he seemed weaker, and could only mur- 
mur : 

‘ ‘ Leyden ! — Leyden ! — Tranquil — ’ ’ Then 
Gysbert with trembling knees and quaking 
heart, entered the door and walked up to the 
bed. At first the Prince did not see him, but 
soon the renewed barking of his spaniel at- 
tracted his attention to the curious little fig- 
ure standing by the bedside. 

“Who art thou?” he queried Teebly. 

“Mynheer Prince,” faltered Gysbert, “I 
am only a boy from Leyden, but I have come 
to tell you that it is not true, — ^what you have 
been told concerning the city’s surrender. 
Leyden still holds out and will so continue 
till its last defender is slain!” The dullness 
of fever in the sick man’s eyes gave place to 
an actual sparkle. 

“Leyden still safe!” he exclaimed. 


m JACQUELINE 

‘^Then have I surely been deceived. Oh, God 
be praised that He has answered my prayer ! 
But tell me, brave little fellow, how earnest 
thou to know what only one of my confi- 
dential servants has whispered to me, and 
how earnest thou all this way to undeceive 
me ? Methinks too, thou hast assumed some- 
thing of a disguise.’’ Then Gysbert told 
him the circumstances of the finding of the 
paper, and much about Dirk Willumhoog. 
From this the Prince beguiled him into tell- 
ing about how he had made expeditions with 
messages through the Spanish army, and 
how his sister was helping care for the sick 
and plague-stricken in Leyden, and many 
details about the condition of the city. 
When he had finished he was emboldened to 
ask the Prince how it was that the house had 
no attendants, especially when he lay so ill. 

‘‘Truly it must seem^ strange!” answered 
William the Silent. “I have the kindest of 
servants, and the, best medical attendance, 
but it so happens that I have sent all oif this 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 125 


morning on errands of the greatest impor- 
tance. When this traitor, this Joachim 
Hansleer, returns I will discharge him 
straightway for a lying villain who thinks 
to kill me by his deception. He has been 
whispering to me this past week, that Leyden 
had surrendered but that the rest were 
afraid to tell me ! ’ ’ 

^‘If the great Prince would forgive me for 
saying it,’’ replied Gysbert, would sug- 
gest that he be locked up in close confinement 
instead, else he will join his companion, 
Dirk Willumhoog, and plot more wicked- 
ness!” 

^‘True, true 1” exclaimed the Prince, laugh- 
ing for the first time in weeks. ^ ‘ Thou art a 
clever lad to have thought of it. ' And now 
tell me thy name. I shall not forget thee.” 
When Gysbert had told him, he held out his 
hand: 

^‘Take these ten florins and buy thyself all 
the food thou canst carry back ivith thee. 
Be sure to tell Van der Werf to guard that 


126 


JACQUELINE 


opening in the wall well, and arrest Dirk 
Willumhoog if he enters again. Tell him 
also that help is very near, and pray God 
for a west wind. My grateful thanks go 
with thee! Already I feel the fever abated, 
and new life surging through me. Fare- 
well!’^ Gysbert knelt to kiss the hand of his 
hero, and then sped away light of heel and 
glad of heart at the successful outcome of his 
errand. 

And when, a few moments later, the Ee- 
ceiver-General of llolland, Cornelius Van 
Meirop, ascended to the bed-chamber to visit 
his Prince, he marvelled at the great change 
for the better that had suddenly taken place 
in the condition of William the Silent. 


VEOTJW VOORHAAS’S SECRET 



CHAPTER IX 

VKOUW VOOEHAAS^S SECKET 

N O sooner had Gysbert been dispatched 
on his journey to Rotterdam, than 
J acqueline turned her attention to preparing 
breakfast. Much to her astonishment, 
Vrouw Voorhaas was not yet up and about, 
but she concluded that the woman was 
wearied out with hard work and anxiety, and 
was taking an extra, involuntary nap. 

The most careful search in the larder re- 
vealed nothing that under ordinary circum- 
stances would be considered in the least 
palatable. Jacqueline remembered two 
pigeons’ eggs that had been laid the day 
before, and determined that they must 
go toward furnishing the breakfast-table. 
These, with some very thin gruel of pigeon 
grain completed the arrangements. Won- 
129 


130 JACQUELINE 

dering that Vronw Voohaas had not yet ap- 
peared, and fearing lest something were the 
matter, she decided to go up and investigate 
the cause of this unusual state of affairs. 
At the door of the bedroom she paused, hor- 
ror-struck at the sound of a curious mutter- 
ing and groaning now grown terribly familiar 
to her ears. Then she opened the door. Her 
worst suspicions were verified — ^Vrouw Voor- 
haas had the plague ! 

The woman lay tossing and moaning, ut- 
terly unconscious of anything about her, mut- 
tering strange, incoherent sentences in her 
delirium. Amazed and shocked at what she 
heard, Jacqueline stood rooted to the spot 
listening. 

will not eat it! — I must not eat it! — ” 
cried the unconscious woman, — ^It is for 

the children! — Oh, God, how I hunger! — 
Then in a lower tone; — ‘‘Dirk Willumhoog 
thou shalt not harm them as thou didst en- 
deavor to harm — ’’ Here she appeared to 
fall into a restless sleep, and for a few mo- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 131 


ments her tossing form lay quiet. Jacque- 
line buried her face in her hands and wept 
with sheer bitterness and despair. 

‘‘Oh, Vrouw Voorhaas, Vrouw Voorhaas! 
— ^now I know what doth ail thee!’’ she 
sobbed aloud. “Thou hast starved thyself 
for our sakes, thou didst deceive us into 
thinking thou wast satisfied with a little, and 
now thou art reaping the results of thy sacri- 
fice ! ’ ’ The realization that this faithful serv- 
ant had brought herself to this pass by her 
own self-denial, occupied Jacqueline’s mind 
to the exclusion of every other thought. 
“How wicked and ungrateful I have been,” 
she blamed herself, “going out to nurse other 
people, when starvation and illness lay wait- 
ing right at my own door, and I never 
guessed! Oh, if Gysbert were only here!” 

Then the necessity for doing something, 
and that speedily, forced itself upon her. 
Deciding that she could leave the sick woman 
more easily now than later, she ran out at 
once to find Dr. de Witt. He accompanied 


1S2 JACQUELINE 

her without an instant’s delay. When he 
reached the sick room he gave one keen 
glance at his patient, and then set about his 
work of relief, Jacqueline assisting him with 
the intelligence and skill perfected by much 
practice. 

‘‘Now,” said he finally, “thou must make 
up thy mind, Juffrouw Jacqueline, to one 
thing. For the present thou must give up 
all thought of going on thy daily round with 
me, and devote thyself to the care of this thy 
companion. Her case is more critical than 
usual, having been brought on, I judge, by 
systematic starvation.” 

“But Jan! — ” faltered the girl. “He is 
still very weak and needs my care.” 

“Let him come here and stay,” ordered 
the doctor. “I will myself fetch him this 
afternoon, and thus thou wilt have both thy 
patients under thine eye. He also may be 
able to help thee a little. Where is thy 
brother r’ 

“He has gone out of the city on an errand 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 133 


of importance. I do not expect him back for 
two or three days,’’ she answered. 

Well, keep him out of the sick room when 
he returns. ’Tis best for him not to be ex- 
posed to the disease. Now I must be going 
on my usual way. I shall miss thy helpful 
presence much, Juffrouw Jacqueline. Ah, 
but times are sore in this wretched city!” 
As he turned to go, Vrouw Voorhaas roused 
herself and began muttering anew : 

‘‘Louvain? — Louvain? — Yes, from there 
we came, but what is that to thee! — ” The 
doctor started, and walked back toward his 
patient. 

“She hath been raving much without 
sense!” remarked Jacqueline hastily. “I 
fear her mind is all unhinged!” But Dr. de 
Witt continued to scrutinize sharply the fea- 
tures of the sick woman. 

“Didst thou really come from Louvain?” 
he asked Jacqueline at length. 

“Yes,” faltered the girl, “many years 
ago.” 


134 


JACQUELINE 


“What is the name of this woman U’ the 
doctor continued to question. As Jacqueline 
told him, a great light appeared to break in 
on his mind. 

“Ah, ah!’’ he exclaimed. “I see it all! 
It is as clear as day to me now! That re- 
semblance in thee I was sure I should place 
sometime. Is not thy name Cornellisen, and 
was not thy father the famous doctor-pro- 
fessor in the University ? ’ ’ 

“Aye!” answered Jacqueline in fear and 
trembling, “Thou hast guessed aright, but 
tell no one, I pray thee !” 

“I knew it! I felt it!” continued the 
doctor. “And yet I could not make the 
memory a connected one, till now. I was a 
student about to graduate from the Univer- 
sity, and thy father was my great admira- 
tion and example. I saw Vrouw Voorhaas 
once on visiting his home, but never his chil- 
dren, hence I did not recognize thee. It was 
sad — sad, thy father’s end, and I grieved 
over it many a long day! It was his great 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 135 


devotion to the young Count de Bnren who 
was under his special care, that brought him 
to his death. Dost thou know all about it?” 

‘‘I know only what Vrouw Voorhaas has 
told me, of his being captured and killed by 
the cruel Duke of Alva,” answered Jacque- 
line. 

‘‘Then I can tell thee more, and I will some 
time. Right glad I am that it has fallen to 
my lot to help and befriend thee, for so I 
can render service to thy dead father who 
was always more than kind to me.” 

All the morning Jacquehne sat by the sick 
woman’s bedside, moistening her parched 
lips with water, cooling her feverish brow 
with refreshing compresses, and tending to 
every unspoken want with a devotion born 
of love and remorse. At no time did Vrouw 
Voorhaas become sane and conscious of her 
surroundings, and her feverish delirium in- 
creased as the day wore on. It wrung the 
girl’s tender heart to hear her cry out 
against the pangs of hunger and imagine that 


136 JACQUELINE 

she must continually deny herself for the chil- 
dren’s sake. 

Little by little the history of all the past 
weeks of suffering was revealed to the watch- 
ing girl, and she realized that what she had 
supposed to be a sufficient supply of provi- 
sions for all, had only been rendered enough 
for herself and Gysbert by the cruel depriva- 
tion of this faithful woman. But other 
chance ejaculations were more mystifying, 
and served to arouse in Jacqueline an in- 
tense, terrified curiosity as to what might be 
this long kept secret that so troubled the 
soul of Vrouw Voorhaas. Once she was 
electrified by hearing the sick woman hiss : 

‘‘How didst thou get in the city, Dirk Wil- 
lumhoog? — No, go away! Thou canst draw 
nothing from me ! — I will not tell thee, I say ! 
— Thou dare not touch one hair of their 
heads I — Nay, I will not tell thee ! — Keep thy 
gold! — ^What do I care for all the wealth of 
the Indies! — Their father — ” 

Jacqueline puzzled over it in trembling 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 137 


astonishment. Was it possible that Dirk 
Willumhoog had been here in Belfry Lane, 
and interviewed Vronw Voorhaas while they 
were away somewhere? But why had she 
not told them of it? What conld he this 
dreadful mystery that the two seemed to 
share in common? What harm did he plan 
to do them? 

That afternoon Jan arrived, accompanied 
by Dr. de Witt. Jacqueline now had her 
hands full with the two patients, but she was 
grateful for the companionship of the old 
man. It had seemed unutterably depressing 
to be shut up alone with this sick woman who 
was never for a moment in her right mind, 
and who raved incessantly about disturbing 
mysteries. Two more days passed and the 
conditions in Belfry Lane continued about 
the same. Vrouw Voorhaas did not improve, 
except that she had less delirium, and Jac- 
queline was worried almost out of her senses 
because Gysbert had not yet appeared. 
Nothing could convince her that all was well 


138 JACQUELINE 

with him, and she kept constant watch for the 
carrier pigeon to bring some news. 

Eunning up to the cote on the fourth day, 
she found to her joy, ‘‘William of Orange’’ 
strutting about among the two or three other 
birds. A note was fastened about his leg, 
and Jacqueline unfastened it with trembling, 
eager fingers. To her surprise it was ad- 
dressed not to her but to Vrouw Voorhaas, 
and was in a strange handwriting. With a 
great throb of terror, she opened it and read 
these words : — 

“Vkouw Vooehaas/^ 

‘"Fortune has at last turned in my favor. 
The boy is now in my possession, and before 
long the girl will be also. I snap my fingers 
in thy face!” 


^‘Dibk Willumhoog.” 


THE BEGGARS OP THE SEA 
















CHAPTEE X 


THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 

^^T7E0UW VOOEHAAS is decidedly 
▼ better to-day, Juffrouw Jacque- 
line,’^ remarked Dr. Pieter de Witt as he left 
the bedside of the sick woman. ‘‘She is 
really coming out of this illness very well, 
thanks to thy careful nursing and our good 
Jan’s assistance.” 

“Is it so indeed!” answered Jacqueline 
listlessly, striving to force herself to some 
show of enthusiasm. “Then am I right glad, 
for I have done my best, and thou hast been 
devotion itself. Dr. de Witt. Oh! if only — ” 
She turned away her head to hide the tears 
that would come, and a sob stopped her 
further utterance. The good doctor under- 
stood, and busied himself over his patient 
till the girl had regained her self-control. 

141 


14S JACQUELINE 

I mistake not,’’ he ventured at length, 
‘‘she will probably be quite herself to-day, 
having regained consciousness several times 
lately. It would be well, should she recover 
sufficiently to ask after thy brother, not to 
allow her to think he has come to harm. A 
shock like that would thrust her lower than 
she has yet been.” 

“But what shall we say?” faltered Jacque- 
line. “I must not tell an untruth.” 

“Wouldst thou tell her the broad, brutal 
facts, and thereby cause her death?” de- 
manded the doctor sternly. “Nay, it is only 
necessary to say that since she had been suf- 
fering with the plague, it was deemed wisest 
to send him away for a time, lest he contract 
the disease. She will be satisfied with that 
for the present.” Jacqueline acquiesced in 
this, and the two went downstairs to acquaint 
Jan Van Buskirk with the news of the im- 
provement in Vrouw Voorhaas’s condition. 
Jan was sitting in the sunny, immaculate 
kitchen reading his big Bible, one of the few 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 143 


possessions he had brought with him to Bel- 
fry Lane. He was as pleased as the others 
with the good report. 

^‘Listen to this!’^ he remarked. ^‘IVe 
just been reading it in the Good Book. I 
think the Lord must have had the siege of 
Leyden in mind when He caused this to be 
written — ^Surely He shall deliver thee from 
the snare of the fowler and from the noisome 
pestilence!’ — Isn’t that just what happened 
to Vrouw Voorhaas and myself? I call it 
nothing less than miraculous! And here’s 
some more! — ‘Thou shalt not be afraid for 
the terror by night, nor for the arrow that 
flieth by day’ — Doesn’t that just describe the 
Spanish army out beyond? — ‘nor for the pes- 
tilence that walketh in darkness’ — that’s the 
plague — ‘nor for the destruction that wast- 
eth at noonday.’ — That’s starvation! 

“ ‘A thousand shall fall at thy side, and 
ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall 
not come nigh thee!’ Haven’t more than 
five thousand died of starvation and the pes- 


144 JACQUELINE 

tilence here already, and we are yet spared!” 

‘^True, true!” murmured Jacqueline, ‘^but 
Gysbert! — ” Now there was an unspoken 
but well-understood conspiracy between the 
doctor and Jan to keep up the spirits of the 
despairing girl on this painful subject. 

‘^Thou didst not let me read far enough, 
Jacqueline,” the old man hastened to add. 
‘^Only listen! Here is another Psalm that 
I was reading this morning. It should be a 
great help to thee; — ‘The Lord is my light 
and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The 
Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom shall 
I be afraid ? 

“ ‘When the wicked, even mine enemies 
came upon me to eat up my flesh, they 
stumbled and fell. Though an host should 
encamp against me my heart shall not fear. 
Though war should rise against me, in this 
will I be confident. 

“ ‘Teach me thy way, 0 Lord, and lead me 
in a plain path because of mine enemies. 
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 145 


He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, 
on the Lord ! ^ ’ 

‘‘What thou hast read does truly give me 
new courage,’^ said Jacqueline. “Thanks, 
J an ! Thou art indeed a help and a comfort. 
And now I will go up to the dove-cote to see 
if perchance a pigeon has come with some 
message for the burgomaster.’’ 

A week had passed since the disappearance 
of the boy, and not a sign or a token had 
come to the anxious watchers in Belfry Lane, 
to indicate his whereabouts or his fate. 
After the first shock caused by Dirk’s mes- 
sage, Jacqueline had gone straight to Adrian 
Van der Werf and explained the situation, 
imploring him to assist in trying to find and 
rescue her brother. The burgomaster was 
deeply distressed at the misfortune that had 
come to his little “jumper,” and was much 
mystified as to the cause of this continued 
persecution of two innocent children by an 
unknown man. 

But as to offering any assistance, that he 


146 


JACQUELINE 


told Jacqueline was quite beyond bis power. 
Already concern for the famishing, besieged 
city, and despair at its vanishing hopes of 
relief had driven him almost beyond his 
senses with anxiety. It was now not only 
impossible, but would be also quite fruitless 
for him to send men outside the walls to 
search for Gysbert, as they would probably 
be killed on sight by the ferocious Spaniards. 
He advised Jacqueline to wait quietly for 
further developments, and gave it as his 
opinion that Gysbert had not been killed, but 
was probably being kept alive for some yet 
unknown purpose. But little encouraged by 
this interview, Jacqueline crept home to en- 
dure silent but unending misery. For she 
was too proud to be seen by the others con- 
stantly grieving, and moreover, she blamed 
herself bitterly for ever allowing her brother 
to undertake such a hazardous enterprise. 

Ascending to the pigeon-loft that morning, 
she found a returned messenger strutting 
about among the remaining birds. He bore 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 147 


a note wrapped round his leg, addressed to 
Adrian Van der Werf. Jacqueline made all 
haste to carry this to the statehonse, for it 
now devolved upon her to be the bearer of 
these messages when they arrived. The bur- 
gomaster welcomed her kindly : 

‘ ‘ Good-morning, Jutf rouw J acqueline ! 
Hast heard any news from thy brother 
yetr’ 

‘‘Nay,’’ answered the girl shaking her 
head sadly. “But I have here another mes- 
sage for you, Mynheer Van der Werf. It 
has but just come by a pigeon.” 

“Thanks, thanks!” he said, opening it 
eagerly. Then with sparkling eyes he cried : 

“Ah, this is excellent, excellent news! 
Admiral Boisot with his fleet manned by the 
Beggars of the Sea, has arrived out of Zee- 
land, and is already entering the Rhine over 
the broken dykes. He cannot be ten miles 
from the city! Praise God, praise God!” 
He turned to Jacqueline for an answering 
enthusiasm, but found to his surprise that the 


148 JACQUELINE 

poor girl had fainted away in the chair where 
she sat, evidently from sheer hunger and 
fatigue. Van der Werf hastened to a closet, 
took out a bottle, and forced some cordial be- 
tween her set teeth. As he chafed her cold 
hands he murmured : 

^‘Poor, poor little girl! Thou hast borne 
thy share of this cursed trouble nobly and 
well — that I know from De Witt himself. 
Thou shalt have every comfort and help that 
I can render thee!’’ Jacqueline soon re- 
turned to consciousness, but the burgomaster 
would not yet allow her to leave, and insisted 
that she drink another glass of the revivify- 
ing, cordial. When she was quite herself 
again, he sent her back to Belfry Lane with a 
large basket of food from his own larder, 
which he had despatched a soldier to pro- 
cure. 

‘‘It is not much,” he apologized, “for we 
are hard put to it ourselves for sustenance 
now. But it is at least something I can do 
for so faithful a helper. See that thou dost 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 149 

not stint thyself in thy distribution of it!” 
be ended laughing. 

When she bad gone, Van der Werf 
hastened to despatch a town-crier to spread 
the good news, and himself made all speed 
to Hengist Hill to observe the position of 
the fleet. The day was clear, and the flotilla 
lay in plain sight, not far beyond the Land- 
scheiding — a motley array of more than two 
hundred vessels of every conceivable shape 
and size. The largest, an enormous craft 
with shot-proof bulwarks and moved by huge 
paddle wheels turned by a crank, was called 
the ^^Ark of Delft/* It served as the flagship 
for Admiral Boisot, and was renowned for 
being the leader in every battle. Each ship 
carried from eight to ten cannon, and the 
whole fleet was manned by twenty-five hun- 
dred wild and battle-scarred veterans, the 
bravest and fiercest in the land. 

They called themselves the ‘‘Beggars of 
the Sea,” a name they had assumed since a 
time at first, when the scornful Spanish 


150 JACQUELINE 

soldiery had mocked them. ^‘Who is afraid 
of you ! You are nothing but a pack of beg- 
gars I ^ ^ scotf ed the Spaniards. ‘ ‘ V ery well ! ’ ^ 
replied the hot-headed Zeelanders. ^‘Ye 
shall see how beggars can fight!^^ And truly 
they made a ferocious crew, as the Spanish 
found later, to their surprise and dismay. 
They neither gave nor took quarter, for theirs 
was a battle to the death, and woe to the 
luckless Spaniard who fell within their 
power ! ‘ ‘ Long live the Beggars ! ’ ’ was their 
rallying cry, and ‘‘Long live the Beggars!’’ 
now echoed in shout upon shout from Hengist 
Hill, by the crowds that had followed the bur- 
gomaster to the summit. Hope was once 
more restored, and Leyden gathered herself 
together and drew a long breath of renewed 
courage. 

But before the consummation of this hope 
there was much to be done, and many battles 
to fight. The Land-scheiding lay before the 
fleet guarded by Spanish troops, and all 
about, the villages and fortresses were in 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 151 

the hands of the same enemy. On the night 
of September tenth, the city was startled 
by loud cannonading to the southwest, and 
the sky grew lurid with the flames of burn- 
ing farmhouses and villages. Boisot had 
made the first bold move. Finding that the 
great dyke was but insufficiently guarded, he 
attacked it in the dead of night, at the same 
time setting fire to and ruining several ad- 
jacent strongholds of the enemy. 

When morning dawned he was in posses- 
sion of the coveted Land-scheiding, without 
the loss of a single man. The discomfited 
Spaniards had but too late discovered their 
mistake in underestimating the courage of 
their assailants. A dove flew in on the 
morning of the eleventh, sent by Boisot, tell- 
ing of the victory. Jacqueline carried it to 
the statehouse with the first feeling of en- 
thusiasm she had experienced in many a 
^ long day. Perhaps the city really would be 
relieved, and perhaps Gysbert might be re- 
stored to them after all ! 


1 



I 


> 


1 

1 



JACQUELINE RESPONDS TO AN 
URGENT SUMMONS 


CHAPTER XI 

JACQUELINE EESPONDS TO AN UEGENT SUMMONS 

S INCE the great dyke had been pierced 
an entire week had elapsed. Stout- 
hearted Admiral Boisot had expected to 
find the Land-scheiding the only barrier be- 
tween his fleet and the city. But no sooner 
had this been passed than he discovered to 
his surprise and disgust that several more 
dykes and fortresses stood between himself 
and the goal. Three-quarters of a mile fur- 
ther on was the ‘‘Green-way,’’ another long 
dyke rising a foot above the water. But the 
Spaniards had not yet sufficiently learned 
their lesson, and this barrier also was very 
scantily guarded. 

With his usual promptness and audacity, 
Boisot carried this situation, set his men to 
levelling the dyke, and the fleet passed through 
155 


156 JACQUELINE 

triumphantly. But again he was doomed to 
disappointment. Beyond the ‘ ^ Green- way 
stretched a large shallow lake called ‘‘Fresh- 
water Mere’’ through which there was but 
one passage, a deep canal. As fortune would 
have it, however, this canal led directly under 
a bridge that was in possession of the Span- 
iards. This time the enemy had looked well 
to its defences, and a few skirmishes soon 
convinced Boisot that the foe had the advan- 
tage of him. So he prudently drew off and 
waited. 

Only two and a half miles from the be- 
leaguered city lay the rescuing fleet stranded 
in shallow water, unable to progress an inch. 
The east wind blew steadily, the waters de- 
creased and the Spaniards laughed in their 
faces. Within the city reigned a despair all 
the blacker for the brief illumination of hope 
that had now died. But God had not yet 
forsaken the cause of the right. 

On the eighteenth of September the wind 
changed, a great gale raged for three days 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 157 

out of the northwest, the waters rose rapidly, 
and the vessels were again afloat. Fortu- 
nately too, from some fugitives from one of 
the villages, who had come aboard, Boisot 
learned of another course he could pursue, a 
little roundabout indeed, but having the ad- 
vantage of avoiding the terrible, guarded 
bridge. He lost no time in availing himself 
of this, and the amazed Spaniards at the vil- 
lage of Nord Aa suddenly beheld this fear- 
inspiring flotilla bearing down upon them 
from an entirely unexpected direction. 
They fled precipitately, not even stopping to 
gather up their possessions, to the strongly 
fortified village of Zoeterwoude, only a mile 
and three-quarters from the city. 

A little beyond Nord Aa, Boisot en- 
countered the last dyke, the Kirk-way.^’ 
This he promptly levelled, but the wind had 
again changed, the water fell to the depth of 
only nine inches, and the fleet lay once more 
helpless in its shallows. Day by day passed 
and nothing occurred to alter the monotony 


158 JACQUELINE 

of this inaction. But one circumstance took 
place which filled the Sea Beggars with re- 
newed courage and inspired universal joy. 
The Prince of Orange, now recovered suffi- 
ciently from his long illness to he about, 
came on board the Arh of Delft/^ to grasp 
the hand of the doughty Admiral. Prom 
thence he made a triumphal tour of all the 
vessels, instilling into every heart fresh 
courage, cheering, advising and directing. 
He looked pale and worn after his illness, 
and his devoted veterans, even these fierce 
Sea Beggars, were ready to fall at his feet 
and obey his lightest command. After a 
long and serious conference with Boisot, he 
returned to Delft. 

Meanwhile, what of Jacqueline, upon the 
messages borne by whose carrier pigeons the 
whole city hung with breathless expectation ? 
Since the passing of the Land-scheiding she 
had continued to carry constant messages to 
Van der Werf, for every time the Admiral 
gained a new advantage, he hastened to de- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 159 


spatch another pigeon, for the enconragement 
of Leyden. Everyone who was not too 
weak with hunger to walk, haunted the sum- 
mit of Hengist Hill to watch the advance of 
the rescuers. It filled their hearts with new 
courage to note how small a space the be- 
sieging army was now forced to occupy, — 
only a ring little more than a mile wide all 
about the city, with the threatening ocean 
and a crew of desperate Sea Beggars on one 
side, and the hunger-maddened populace of 
Leyden in the center. The situation was 
certainly becoming a trifie embarrassing for 
the Spanish army! 

Jacqueline occasionally went to Hengist 
Hill with Jan, who was now able to get about 
quite briskly. Dr. de Witt insisted that she 
must get out and take fresh air and exercise, 
and he was always willing to sit with Vrouw 
Voorhaas while she was away. They never 
allowed the girl to go far alone, for all yet 
feared the threat of Dirk Willumhoog to en- 
trap her as well as her brother, and took 


160 JACQUELINE 

care that she was well guarded. Vrouw 
Voorhaas had also made decided improve- 
ment but was yet unable to leave her bed. 
The excessive weakness caused by her long 
self-denial and its consequences, seemed al- 
most impossible to overcome. Her constant 
inquiries about Gysbert too, were becoming 
more and more difficult to answer, though 
they still kept up the fiction that he was 
quartered with Dr. de Witt during her illness. 
Sometimes it seemed as though she watched 
them all with hidden suspicion, and once she 
even murmured: 

fear he is not safe! Something tells 
me he is in danger!’’ On the night when 
the fleet reached Nord Aa a pigeon flew in 
bearing the tidings. Jacqueline found him, 
for she was constantly on the watch for mes- 
sages, but since it was nearly nine o’clock, 
it was deemed best that J an should carry the 
word to the burgomaster. The doctor had 
just left not five minutes before, and Jan 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 161 

hobbled off to execute his mission leaving 
Jacqueline with Vrouw Voorhaas. The girl 
sat reading by the sick bed, casting an oc- 
casional glance at her patient who was sound 
asleep. Presently, thinking she heard a 
knock at the door, she closed her book and 
hurried downstairs. 

’Tis early for Jan to be back,’’ she 
thought. ‘^He has but just left, and I know 
he will want to stay and chat awhile with 
Mynheer Van der Werf. Who can it be!” 
Some indefinable sensation of misgiving 
caused her to be a little long about opening 
the door. She was reassured, however, by 
seeing only a small boy who thrust a note 
into her hand, and turning ran down the 
street. She called to him to come back as 
there might be an answer required, but the 
child apparently did not hear her, and was 
soon out of sight. Wonderingly she brought 
the scrap of paper to the candle-light and 
read its contents. 


162 


JACQUELINE 


‘‘ JufProuw Jacqueline, (it ran) : — 

thou wouldst hear news of thy 
brother, and dost also desire a chance to 
rescue him, I beg thee to come to the end 
of the Wirtemstrasse at once. Do not waste 
a moment, for the opportunity is but brief. 
The messenger there can only wait fifteen 
minutes. Thy brother sends his love. 

‘^One who is thy friend.’’ 

Jacqueline flushed with joy and then 
turned deathly pale. Hope, doubt and dis- 
trust reigned equally in her mind. News of 
Gysbert ! — a chance to rescue him ! — she 
would go to the end of the world for that! 
But why had not the writer of the note, 
signed his name? Why had the little boy 
who brought it run away so quickly? Oh, if 
Jan or Dr. de Witt were only here to advise 
her! Oh, if there were but more time! 
She glanced at the note again. It said — 
^ ‘ Come immediately. The messenger has but 
fifteen minutes to wait.” Fifteen minutes! 
One had gone already, while it would take at 
least ten to reach the appointed spot. Only 
four minutes in which to decide! But she 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 166 

had been forbidden to go out alone, especially 
at night. That she concluded would not in- 
terfere if they knew that Gysbert’s welfare 
hung upon it. The girl was on a positive 
rack of torturing doubt, but the note again 
conquered. ^‘Thy brother sends his love.’’ 
Gysbert was then at least alive and safe, and 
was thinking of her? ‘‘One who is thy 
friend.” — Surely, no one who wished her 
evil could subscribe that signature! If it 
were a friend she need fear no harm. Then 
and there she formed her determination to 
risk all and obey this summons. God would 
surely watch over her ! 

Catching up a light wrap she opened and 
closed the door softly, and sped down the 
dark street. The night was starless and 
chilly; the few people she met were hurry- 
ing in the opposite direction to witness the 
conflagration at Nord Aa from Hengist Hill. 
Her way lay in the direction of the city wall 
between the Cow Gate and the Tower of 
Burgundy. It was a deserted section, and 


164 JACQUELINE 

approaching it, she recognized it as the 
scene of GysberUs adventure in the canal. 
A shudder of apprehension shook her but she 
hurried on. It was do or die now, and noth- 
ing could have induced her to turn back. 

Beaching the end of the Wirtemstrasse, 
she found herself at the bend of the canal 
described by Gysbert. A meadow stretched 
out before her, and beyond that rose a section 
of the grim wall of Leyden. There was not 
a soul in sight, and the girl began to think 
that in some way she had been deceived. 
Concluding, however, that she might possibly 
be a little ahead of time, she leaned over the 
rail of the stone bridge that crossed the 
canal, and waited. 

Suddenly, without a warning sound, she 
felt herself seized from behind. Before she 
could even cry out, a bandage was clapped 
over her mouth and fastened at the back of 
her head. Instantly another was bound over 
her eyes and her hands were tied behind her 
in spite of her desperate struggles. In all 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 165 

this time she had not caught one glimpse of 
her captor, but she heard a rough voice mut- 
ter: ‘‘Ah! — I have thee at last! I have 
waited long enough for a chance to find thee 
unguarded by those two watchdogs!’’ And 
she knew it to be the voice of Dirk Willum- 
hoog! 

“Now walk with me and do exactly as I 
tell thee, if thou dost not wish to be knocked 
in the head!” the voice commanded in a low 
key. In utter despair Jacqueline was forced 
to obey, there being obviously no other 
course to pursue. The man grasped her by 
one arm and pulled her along after him. She 
could tell by the feeling of the ground that 
they were crossing the meadow, and antici- 
pating what was to come, she trembled till 
her knees almost refused to support her. 
Presently she stepped up to her ankles in a 
pool of water. 

“Draw a long breath and hold it!” com- 
manded the voice. She tried to do as she was 
told, when with a sudden plunge she was im- 


166 JACQUELINE 

mersed head and all, for what seemed an in- 
terminable length of time. At last she felt 
her head raised above the surface. ‘‘Keep 
it np — so!’’ was the order. The icy current 
more than once forced her from her feet, 
causing her to slip under, and the atmosphere 
of the place struck a chill to her very mar- 
row. Once again the ground gave way be- 
neath her, and she felt the man’s strong arm 
pulling her after him, while he swam in water 
too deep for wading. 

But the girl’s senses could no longer stand 
the strain of cold, fatigue and terror, and at 
this point she suddenly became unconscious. 
How the rest of the journey was accom- 
plished she could never imagine, for she 
knew no more till she came to herself in what 
seemed to be some sort of narrow hallway. 
A door was opened and she was rudely thrust 
inside with the exclamation: “There! — at 
length! — I thought I should never get thee 
here ! ’ ’ Then the door was slammed to, and 
loudly bolted. 


EEUNITED 













CHAPTER XII 


EBUNITED 

F or a time Jacqueline sat huddled and 
motionless in the corner where she 
had fallen. Her eyes were still bandaged, her 
mouth was gagged and her hands were tied 
behind her. She wondered vaguely whether 
they would ever come to release her from 
these bonds, and she shivered pitifully in her 
wet garments. Finally she roused herself 
and struggled feebly to free her hands. Her 
surprise was great when she found that the 
cords fell apart easily, but it was not till later 
that she guessed the secret — they had prob- 
ably been severed nearly through before she 
was pushed into the room. 

Once her hands were free, it was the work 
of but a few seconds to unbind her eyes and 
mouth and look about her. The room was 
169 


170 JACQUELINE 

in inky darkness, save where a small win- 
dow admitted a faint gray light that in- 
dicated the outer world. There was no 
sound anywhere through the house. Oh, if 
they had only allowed her a little light ! It 
was weird and uncanny to be thus thrust 
into a strange room and left there in utter 
darkness. 

Presently the chill of her dripping clothes 
caused her to shudder and give an involun- 
tary moan. A moment after she was elec- 
trified by hearing something move, on the 
other side of the room. There was then 
some living thing in here with her ! A chill, 
not of cold this time but of sheer terror, 
shook her from head to foot, and a wild de- 
sire to shriek aloud possessed her. Again 
the dreaded something moved, breathed 
hard, and uttered the word, ‘‘ Jacqueline ’M 
With a cry of joy and recognition she 
sprang across the room, and brother and 
sister found themselves tightly clasped in 
each others’ arms. For a moment neither of 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 171 

them could do anything but sob and laugh and 
kiss the other distractedly. At last they 
grew sufficiently calm for speech. 

‘‘Oh, Gysbert, my brother! Art thou 
truly unharmed and well? How did this 
dreadful thing happen?’’ breathed Jacque- 
line. 

“Yes, I am alive and whole,” he replied, 
“but how I got here is a long story which 
I will tell thee later. But what about thee, 
Jacqueline? Thou art soaking wet! How 
didst thou come to be caught in the same 
trap?” In rapid sentences she sketched the 
history of the night’s adventures. 

“The scoundrel!” exclaimed Gysbert. 
“He must have brought thee through that 
same hole in the wall. I felt sure he had 
been planning to capture thee, but to-night 
when thou wert thrown so violently into the 
room, I could not tell whether it was thyself 
or some new trap he had been setting for me. 
Not till I heard thee moan was I sure. He 
has some deep-laid scheme in getting pos- 


m JACQUELINE 

session of us two, but what it is I cannot im- 
agine. However, thou must get rid of these 
wet things, sister. There is a little room 
adjoining this where thou canst sleep. It 
has evidently been arranged for that pur- 
pose. Take off thy dripping clothes and 
wrap thyself in the bed-coverings, and we 
will then tell each other all that has happened 
since we parted. 

‘‘Now,’’ said Gysbert, when his sister had 
arrayed herself in the warm bed-coverings, 
“I will begin by telling thee all about my 
journey to Eotterdam.” And he rehearsed 
to her all the details of his interview with 
the Prince of Orange, and continued: “It 
took me another day and night to pass Delft 
and reach the Spanish outposts. Feeling so 
certain I should get through in safety, I 
think I grew a little reckless and determined 
to try the route I had taken the first time. I 
never made a bigger mistake ! 

“In the first place, I hadn’t an idea of the 
password, having been away three days. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 173 

As luck would liave it, I failed to en- 
counter my friend Alonzo de Eova, but did 
meet right face to face with the same captain 
who had arrested me before. He made short 
work of laying hands on me and delivered me 
over to the charge of about six or eight sol- 
diers in a big tent. I tried again my scheme 
of drawing pictures, and they all became 
very much interested, hanging over me with 
laughter and much admiration as I drew the 
portrait of each one. I was hoping Alonzo 
would happen along, but he didn’t. 

‘‘I cannot tell how my plan would have 
worked, nor whether the soldiers would have 
released me, for just as I was finishing the 
last one, I happened to look up and there 
was the evil face of Dirk Willumhoog in the 
door of the tent, staring down at me. I 
thought perhaps he would not recognize me 
in my disguise, but he did somehow. Disap- 
pearing for a moment, he came back with the 
captain and pointed to me, saying: 

‘That is the boy I want, and I’ve been 


m JACQUELINE 

hunting for him all over. He is no Glipper 
at all, but a spy and a very dangerous charac- 
ter. Give him to me, and I’ll see that he is 
properly taken care of.’ I saw by this that 
resistance would be useless, so I very meekly 
followed him out of the tent. Once outside, 
he blindfolded my eyes, tied my hands, and 
led me what seemed a long distance. At last 
we entered this house. Upstairs we climbed, 
and inside this room he uncovered my eyes. 
‘We’ll see if thou art a Glipper!’ he said, 
and proceeded to wash off all the stain. 
‘Now we will pay off some old scores of long 
standing!’ he added, and with a heavy switch, 
he gave me such a beating as I never had in 
my life before. ’ ’ 

“He beat theeT^ exclaimed the girl, her 
eyes blazing in the dark. “Oh, I could kill 
him for it!” 

“Yes, but I did not cry out!” replied Gys- 
bert proudly. “Not one moan did he hear 
from me, till at last he stopped from sheer 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 175 

weariness. ^That’s to pay for thy kind re- 
marks on the day I left Leyden!’ he said. 
‘We will settle the rest later !’ Then he took 
my bag and examined it, wondering at the 
herbs, and finding the food and pigeon. 
‘What hast thou here!’ he asked, ‘And why 
wast thou outside the walls!’ I told him we 
were hungry, and I had been trying to get 
some food by selling herbs. ‘ Thou liest 1 ’ he 
shouted. ‘What was this carrier pigeon 
for! I tell thee thou carriest messages to 
the enemy!’ 

“I said I had taken it so that in case I 
could not get back in time, I could send a 
message. ‘Well, Vll send the message,’ he 
replied, ‘and it will be somewhat differently 
worded, thou canst wager!’ What was it, 
Jacqueline!” The girl told him, and both 
together puzzled over the supposition that 
Dirk and Vrouw Voorhaas must sometime 
have met, and held some secret knowledge 
in common. She also told him what the 


176 JACQUELINE 

woman had uttered in her delirium, but they 
could make nothing of the mystery. Then 
Gyshert went on with his story. 

‘‘After that he left me, bolting the door 
behind him, and I was free to look about me, 
and see where I was, as far as my limited 
space would permit. I found myself in this 
room which thou wilt see at daylight, with 
the other small one opening from it. Both 
contained a bed, and that made me guess that 
at some time he hoped to capture thee also. 
There are two little windows well guarded 
by heavy iron bars like a prison. However, I 
could see enough through them to guess 
where I was. This is a little, lonely farm- 
house well outside the village of Zoeterwoude. 
Thou knowest where that is, Jacqueline. We 
have often gone there to buy pigeons. It is 
about a mile and a half from Leyden. 

“The walls and floorings of the rooms are 
thick, and I seldom hear any sounds from the 
rest of the house. There is no fireplace and 
very little furniture. Well, here I was, and 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 177 


likely to remain till fortune again turned 
in my favor! For three successive days 
Dirk came up and gave me a beating, till I 
foresaw that this was to become a daily prac- 
tice. Otherwise I had food enough shoved 
in the door at me, — ^more than I had in Ley- 
den ! — and nothing on earth to do. At 
length I became thoroughly weary of the 
beating performance, and hit upon a scheme 
to avoid it. And what dost thou think that 
was, Jacqueline?” 

‘‘I cannot guess!” she answered. 

^‘Why, I pretended I had the plague!*^ 
he cried gleefully. ‘^Oh, Jacqueline, thou 
canst not guess what a desperate coward that 
Dirk Willumhoog is ! One day when I 
heard him coming, I held my breath till I 
was scarlet in the face, like fever. I lay 
covered up in bed, and when he entered, I be- 
gan to toss my arms about and rave, as 
though light in the head. He did not beat 
me that time, but stared at me uneasily for a 
while, and went out muttering. He did not 


178 


JACQUELINE 


come in again that day, and I had a chance 
to make myself a little worse ! 

found a place in the wall where some 
loose plaster had fallen away from the brick 
lining within. Breaking otf some of this 
brick, powdering and moistening it, I thus 
obtained some fine red paint with which I pro- 
ceeded to decorate myself. With the pail of 
water for a mirror, all over my face and 
hands I imitated the blotches that appear on 
the plague-stricken. Oh, I must have been 
a fine, healthful sight ! 

‘‘When Dirk came in to visit me next 
morning, he looked, gave one howl, and 
rushed out of the room ! I have not seen him 
since, and I know he believes me far gone in 
this illness. Strange to say though, in spite 
of his hatred, he does not seem to wish me 
to die, but has caused to be thrust in the door 
the finest food and nourishment that could be 
procured. I could live like a lord if I wished, 
but I scarcely touch it, saving only enough 
to keep life in me, else he would surely sus- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 179 


pect. Thus have I passed the three weeks 
He ceased to speak, and for a while they sat 
silent, hoping, doubting, fearing for the fu- 
ture, yet rejoicing that they were at last to- 
gether. 

‘‘But now thou must go to bed, Jacque- 
line,’’ said Gysbert at length. “Thou art 
wearied out and sleep will do thee good.” 
Obediently she crept into the bed in the little 
room, dropped asleep almost as soon as her 
head touched the pillow, and never woke till 
the sun was streaming in at the small window 
high overhead. Rising and donning the 
clothes that were now dry, she hurried into 
the next room to get the first glimpse at her 
brother. 

He was indeed a remarkable sight, as he 
lay in bed exhibiting his horribly blotched 
face and hands. It would have taken a keen 
eye, so cleverly had he executed this dread- 
ful decoration, to detect it as false. 

“Thou must pretend to be greatly alarmed 
about me, Jacqueline, should they interview 


180 JACQUELINE 

thee, and do not be surprised at my ravings, 
for they are right hair-raising!’’ Gysbert 
had hardly uttered this caution, when there 
was a sound of steps approaching the door. 
Immediately he began to toss his arms about, 
moan, mutter, and occasionally shriek in a 
muffled manner. 

‘ ‘ Go away ! Go away from me ! ” he raved. 
‘‘Thou art not my sister! Why dost thou 
say thou art Jacqueline! I do not know 
thee ! Thou art someone sent by that 
enemy of ours! Go away, go away, I tell 
thee!” Then the door was unbolted, a bas- 
ket of food was thrust within, and a voice 
was heard calling above the racket of Gys- 
bert ’s pretended delirium: 

“Juffrouw Jacqueline! Is thy brother 
very ill?” 

“Yes,” answered the girl trembling. 
“ He is so sorely ill that I fear he will die ! ” 

“Well, thou must not let him die! Thou 
must nurse him carefully. We do not wish 
either of you to come to harm.” 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 181 


^‘Why dost thou keep us hereT^ demanded 
Jacqueline growing bolder. ‘‘Let us go 
away where he can get a doctor and proper 
treatment.’’ 

‘ ‘ ’Tis not for thee to inquire why thou art 
here. That thou shalt perhaps know in due 
time,” answered the voice. “As for a doc- 
tor, it is impossible to procure one and inad- 
visable to bring him here if we could. Thou 
knowest much about nursing the plague, and 
hast had rare experience in the city. If thou 
dost need any special food or medicine for 
him we will try to procure it, but otherwise 
all must remain as it is. Dost think this 
case is very contagious?” 

“Ah, very!” replied Jacqueline, slyly. 
“Even the odor from the room is enough to 
infect one, especially if one fears it greatly!” 
At this the door was slammed hastily shut, 
and when the children had heard the last de- 
parting footsteps of Dirk Willumhoog die 
away, they could not, in spite of their danger, 
repress a giggle of uncontrollable mirth ! 















ADRIAN VAN DEE WERE 


CHAPTEE XIII 


ADEIAN VAN DEB WEBF 

W OEDS cannot express the astonish- 
ment of Jan Van Buskirk when he re- 
turned from the burgomaster’s, to find no 
Jacqueline in the little house in Belfry Lane. 
Unfortunately, she had still grasped the 
crumpled note in her hand when she left the 
house, so he had absolutely no clew to her 
whereabouts. The only explanation he could 
offer to himself was that she must have gone 
out unpremeditatedly to obtain some fresh 
medicine at a little chemist shop near by. 
So he sat down to wait for her return. 

But the time passed on and still she did 
not come. An hour rolled by and Vrouw 
Voorhaas awoke to ask for Jacqueline. Jan 
quieted her by telling her that the girl had 
retired to take a little rest, and Vrouw Voor- 
185 


186 JACQUELINE 

haas went to sleep again. Another hour 
passed, and Jan, frightened almost out of his 
senses, resolved to seek Dr. de Witt. Wak- 
ing Vrouw Voorhaas he told her that he did 
not feel well and was going out to consult the 
doctor. She, he said, must go quietly to 
sleep again, as it was nothing serious. Un- 
suspectingly she assented, and he hurried 
out to find Dr. de Witt, weary with his day’s 
exertion, just about to turn into bed. The 
tale was soon told, and Pieter de Witt lost 
not a moment in resuming his clothes. 

‘‘She has answered some summons,” said 
he, ‘ ‘ and has been led into a trap. I know it ! 
I have suspected all along that something 
like this would happen when we least 
dreamed of it. My God! It is unthink- 
able!” From end to end the two searched 
the city that night. No one had heard of 
her, none had seen her, and they returned 
home in the gray of early morning, foot-sore, 
despairing and heartsick. 

“It will kill Vrouw Voorhaas,” said De 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 187 


Witt, ‘‘and by this time she must certainly 
know something is wrong, since both you 
and the girl have been away all night. Come 
right for me, Jan, if it is necessary, but I 
must turn in now for just a few moment’s 
rest, or I’ll break down too.” Poor Jan 
crept home broken and almost in tears. At 
the door he was met by Vrouw Voorhaas who 
had dragged herself out of bed to search the 
house for its usual inmates. Her eyes were 
wild and haggard, and she faced him fiercely. 

“Where hast thou been all night? Where 
are Jacqueline and Gysbert?” she demanded. 

“Oh, they are all right, — all safe!” he 
tried to prevaricate, but his face betrayed 
him. 

“It is not so! Thou liesti” she inter- 
rupted him. “Evil has come to them, — I 
know it ! I know it ! For many days have I 
suspected that all was not well with Gysbert, 
and now Jacqueline has disappeared too. 
Thou canst not deceive me! Do not try! 
Ah, Dirk Willumhoog, thou — ” She could 


188 JACQUELINE 

not finish, but fell unconscious at the feet of 
Jan. 

He tried to raise her, but in his own weak- 
ened condition found it impossible, and con- 
cluded that the best thing to do was to go 
back at once for the doctor. Pieter de Witt, 
exhausted but indefatigable still in the cause 
of his friends, hurried back with him at once. 
Together they succeeded in raising her and 
getting her back to bed, but they failed ut- 
terly in restoring her to consciousness. Dr. 
de Witt shook his head many times over the 
black prospect. 

‘‘This shock has caused a sudden relapse 
— and no wonder!’’ he said. “I sadly fear 
that the end is not now far away. Thou wilt 
have to be her attendant now, Jan. For the 
sake of the children do thy best, and I will 
help thee!” 

“There is one more possibility that we 
have not tried,” said Jan. “We did not go 
to the burgomaster’s. Can it be possible 
that another message came while I was re- 


or THE CARRIER PIGEONS 189 

turning, and she hurried out with it, going 
some other way^ Perchance as it was late. 
Mynheer Van der Werf ^s wife would not al- 
low her to go home, and has kept her till 
morning. Perchance she has been taken sick 
there.’’ 

‘‘It is a small chance, Jan, — a very small 
one!” said De Witt. “They would surely 
have sent us word in any case. But go to 
him if it will set thy heart at rest. I will 
stay with Vrouw Voorhaas the while.” Jan 
set out once more, his poor old legs fairly 
tottering under him with loss of sleep, lack 
of food, and weakness. But excitement still 
buoyed him up, and the faint, vague hope 
that Jacqueline might have passed the night 
with Mevrouw Van der Werf spurred him 
on to one more effort. It was yet too early 
to find the burgomaster at the statehouse, so 
he proceeded straight to the residence in the 
Werfsteg. 

He was obliged to lift the heavy knocker 
several times before he could arouse the 


190 JACQUELINE 

sleepy servants within. At length he was 
admitted by a yawning, hastily clad domestic 
who went to call the burgomaster. Van der 
Werf came down quickly, expecting another 
message from outside the city. His face was 
pale, haggard and careworn, and his eyes 
showed plainly that he had passed a sleep- 
less night. 

‘^Jan,’’ he cried, ‘‘what news hast thou? 
Is there another message?’’ Then seeing 
the old man’s wild, questioning eyes, — “Ah! 
what ails thee ? Has anything dreadful hap- 
pened?” 

“Is she not here? Is she not here?” mut- 
tered Jan, sinking limply into a chair. 

“Is who not here?” questioned Van der 
Werf mystified. 

“Jacqueline! — the Juffrouw Jacqueline!” 

“Juffrouw Jacqueline has not been here 
for three days! Why, Jan, what has hap- 
pened?” Then the old man told the story, 
while Van der Werf listened with darkening 
face. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 191 

passing strange! ’Tis fairly devil- 
lish!’’ he vociferated. could feel no 
worse if harm had come to one of my own 
family ! Nay, I know nothing about her, and 
what is worse, I can do nothing. I am as 
helpless as thou art. My hands are tied! 
Thou sayest thou hast searched the city? — 
even I can do no more! If she has by any 
means been taken beyond the walls, — God 
help her!’’ The two men sat for some mo- 
ments gloomily silent. Jan had reached a 
point of exhaustion where his body abso- 
lutely refused to obey the behests of his 
mind, — when he attempted to take his de- 
parture, he could not rise from his chair. 

^ ‘ Thou must stay and have a little food and 
drink, — such poor stuff as I can offer thee ! ’ ’ 
said the burgomaster seeing his plight, and 
he rang for a servant to bring in such fare 
as they had in the house. Jan had no heart 
to attack the breakfast, but Van der Werf 
insisted that he should eat a little to sustain 
his strength. So he made a brave attempt. 


192 JACQUELINE 

while the burgomaster strode restlessly up 
and down the room. 

^^Jan, Jan!’^ he cried at length. ‘‘The 
Lord hath put more on my shoulders than 
mortal man can bear! Dost thou know, it 
is by my will alone that this city holds out? 
Daily I receive the most cajoling and fair- 
spoken notes from Commander Valdez. He 
makes the most extravagant promises of 
mercy and leniency if I will only open the 
gates. ’Tis but a siren’s song, as everyone 
well knows! Yet the dissatisfied ones are 
clamorous to try once more the mercy of the 
Spaniard ! — They accuse me of starving and 
killing them for a mere question of my per- 
sonal pride. My God! has not one of my 
own family already died of the plague? Is 
not my own wife even now desperately ill? 
Am 1 the gainer by my policy? Alas, no! 
Jan, a dead body was found placed against 
my door yesterday morning. We all know 
what that means, — they lay the city’s terrible 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 193 


plight to my stubbornness. But while I live, 
I swear I will not open the gates ! ’ ^ 

When Jan somewhat refreshed, had fin- 
ished his meal and rose to start for home. 
Van der Werf offered to accompany him a 
way, saying he wanted no breakfast himself 
and must be at the statehouse early. To- 
gether they went out, the burgomaster sup- 
porting the old man’s feeble steps as ten- 
derly as a son might have assisted his father. 
Not many rods behind them, two or three 
malcontents, well-known for having always 
leaned toward the opinions of the Glippers, 
began to follow the magistrate, muttering 
remarks of no very pleasant nature. Jan 
the fiery, turned about once and rebuked 
them: 

^‘Hold thy tongue, Janus de Vries! And 
thou, Pieter Brouwer, hast thou not thyself 
been fed from the burgomaster’s own 
kitchen! I know all about thee! Wlio art 
thou to utter complaint !” 


194 


JACQUELINE 


not pay any more attention to them, 
Jan, lest they begin to be wordy and attract 
more attention to themselves and ns than is 
desirable!’’ said Van der Werf. But a 
crowd had already begun to gather, which 
in an incredibly short time grew into a mob, 
shouting, yelling, gesticulating, fiercely de- 
manding bread and the opening of the gates. 
The burgomaster began to fear, not for his 
own life, but for that of the feeble old man 
who would be so helpless in their hands did 
they come at last to violence. Just at this 
crisis, they emerged into the triangular space 
in front of the old church of St. Pancras. 

Deeming the time ripe for him to exert all 
his powers of persuasion on this threatening 
throng. Van der Werf ascended the steps of 
the edifice, placed Jan in a protecting angle 
of the doorway, and turned about to face the 
crowd. As he removed his great felt hat, 
the morning sunlight fell through the sur- 
rounding lime-trees on a face, calm, imposing 
and softened with a great and overwhelming 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 195 


sadness. Its silent appeal touched even the 
hearts of the famishing mob, and when he 
raised his hand there was instant silence. 
Then after a moment he spoke, in words that 
history has forever made memorable: 

‘‘What would ye, my friends? WTiy do 
ye murmur that we do not break our vows 
and surrender to the Spaniards? That 
would be a fate more horrible than what the 
city now endures I I tell you I have made an 
oath to hold the city, and may God give me 
strength to keep that oath! I can die but 
once, whether by your hands, or the enemy ^s, 
or the hand of God. My own fate is indiffer- 
ent to me, but not so that of the city which 
has been entrusted to my care. I know that 
we shall starve if we are not soon relieved, 
but starvation is preferable to a dishonored 
death, is it not? Your threats move me not! 
My life is at your disposal. Here is my 
sword, — plunge it into my breast if ye will ! 
Take my body to appease your hunger, but 
do not expect me to surrender while I live!^’ 


196 JACQUELINE 

He held out his arms a moment, then dropped 
them at his side. 

Instantly a great shout of approval went 
up from the multitude. In the twinkling of 
an eye the threats were changed to cries of 
encouragement to the city and defiance to the 
enemy, transmuted by the persistent, dogged 
courage of one man standing absolutely 
alone ! 

‘‘Long live Adrian Van der Werf they 
shouted. “We will indeed fight to the end!’^ 
And leaving the two standing on the steps 
of St. Pancras, the crowd rushed to the walls 
where they remained all day hurling renewed 
defiance at the Spaniards. 

When the mob had deserted them. Van 
der Werf escorted Jan to Belfry Lane and 
left him at the door, after which he proceeded 
with firmer step and easier mind to his daily 
duties at the statehouse. But when Jan 
reached Vrouw Voorhaas’s room, he sat sud- 
denly down in a chair and looked hard at the 
doctor, who noticed that the old man’s ex- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 197 


pression was as exalted as though he had 
seen some heavenly vision. 

‘‘What is the matter T’ he asked. “Hast 
thou found Juffrouw Jacqueline 

“NayJ’ answered Jan, “I have not found 
her. But Pieter de Witt, I have just beheld 
the finest act of courage that it was ever the 
lot of one poor man to witness! If Adrian 
Van der Werf can thus bear the sorrows of a 
whole city on his heart, thou and I, through 
God, must not shrink at the burdens His wis- 
dom has seen fit to lay upon us!’^ And he 
told the doctor of his morning ^s experience. 



ALONZO DE EOVA IS AS GOOD AS HIS 

WOED 


CHAPTEE XIV 

ALONZO DE EOVA IS AS GOOD AS HIS WOED 


M eanwhile, Jacqueline and Gysbert, 
isolated in the upper room of the lit- 
tle farmhouse in Zoeterwoude, found them- 
selves with a great deal of time on their 
hands, and liberty to do pretty much as they 
liked within their limited space. The fiction 
of Gysbert ’s illness with the plague was rig- 
orously adhered to, and beyond opening the 
door a crack to poke in the food, Dirk Wil- 
lumhoog never ventured to intrude. Every 
day he would shout through the closed door 
to Jacqueline, inquiring about Gysbert ’s con- 
dition. Generally she would reply that he 
was no better, or that the symptoms were 
very much worse. Very infrequently she 
answered that he was a little better. 

They lived on the best of fare, for Dirk 
201 


JACQUELINE 


202 

was evidently anxious that the patient should 
have every opportunity in that way to im- 
prove. Gysbert now ate even more than his 
share, but Jacqueline was of course supposed 
to have consumed the larger amount. On 
the whole, though, they felt that the deception 
could not be sustained very much longer, 
without discovery. From the barred win- 
dows they watched constantly, endeavoring 
to discover in that way if possible, something 
that was going on. There was little life 
about the farmhouse, though they occasion- 
ally saw a few Spanish soldiers go in and out, 
and a woman sometimes moving about the 
yard. Only once they overheard a conversa- 
tion that threw some light on whose house 
they were inhabiting. A soldier entered the 
yard one day, and was accosted by this 
woman who seemed to belong to the place. 

“Hast thou heard any news of my hus- 
bandry she questioned. 

“Nothing certain, Vrouw Hansleer,’^ he 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 203 


replied, ‘‘but there is a rumor that the 
Prince has discovered him and had him cast 
into prison.” Then the two passed out of 
hearing. But Gysbert snapped his fingers 
delightedly and cried : 

Hansleer, is it! Now I know where we 
are, Jacqueline! The Prince told me that 
the name of the wretch who was deceiving 
him was Joachim Hansleer, — dost thou not 
remember? And it is due to me that he has 
been imprisoned ! How much dost thou sup- 
pose our lives would be worth if Dirk Wil- 
lumhoog and Vrouw Hansleer knew that! 
Long live the Prince, and may he keep our 
secret!” 

But one day when Gysbert was looking 
from the window, he was startled by the sight 
of a figure that had something familiar in 
its aspect. It was a man in the uniform of a 
Spanish soldier who was tall and finely built, 
but his face could not be seen by the boy. 
Presently however, he looked up, and Gys- 


^04 JACQUELINE 

bert recognized in an instant the features 
of Alonzo de Eova! Immediately a plan 
formed itself in bis mind. 

‘^Jacqueline,’’ be whispered, “it is a big 
risk, but I’m going to take tbe cbance! He 
balf -promised to belp me if ever I needed it. 
Now we will see ! Tbe yard is deserted and I 
will try to attract bis attention.” Suiting 
tbe action to tbe word, be gave a low whistle, 
and tbe soldier looked up. Seeing this 
strange, horribly spotted face at tbe window, 
be uttered a startled exclamation : 

“By St. Lawrence! what dost thou want 
with me? Art thou tbe plague-stricken boy 
Dirk Willumboog is keeping for some un- 
known purpose ? ’ ’ 

“Yes,” answered Gysbert in a low tone. 
“Dost thou not remember tbe little Glipper 
lad who drew tby portrait ? ’ ’ 

“By tbe Pope! I do!” replied Alonzo. 

‘ ‘ Surely thou art not be ! ” 

“I am,” said Gysbert. “Wilt thou belp 
me? If so, ask to come up and see me.” 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 205 


^‘But thou hast the plague!’^ answered the 
soldier. For reply Gysbert shook his head 
and significantly rubbed off one of the brick- 
dust spots. Alonzo gave a loud guffaw of ap- 
preciation at the joke, and nodded encourag- 
ingly. ‘‘Wait!’’ he motioned with his lips, 
for someone was coming out of the house. 
Not long after the children heard a great 
commotion on the stairs. Immediately Gys- 
bert leaped into bed, covered himself well, 
and began to moan and rave incoherently, 
while Jacqueline trembled lest their secret 
should now be discovered through her broth- 
er’s rashness. Nearer and nearer came the 
sounds, as of remonstrance. and scuffling com- 
bined : 

“I tell thee I will see them, Dirk! It will 
do no harm, and thou sayest the lass is 
pretty. I wager five florins she is not so fair 
as my sweetheart in Madrid! Dost thou 
take the wager?” 

“Nay, but thou wilt catch the plague! 
Thou canst not wish to risk that. The boy 


206 JACQUELINE 

is a terrible sight, and the very odor of the 
room will infect thee!^^ 

‘‘Zounds, man! how careful thou art of my 
health! But, fortunately, I do not fear the 
plague. I had it three years ago and got 
over it bravely. They say one is then ex- 
empt and can never catch it again. Let me 
go, Dirk.’’ 

“Aye, but I will not answer for the conse- 
quences, thou reckless man!” answered Dirk 
as he reluctantly unbolted the door, shutting 
it again quickly, when the soldier was once 
inside. Alonzo sat down on a vacant chair, 
and laughed till the tears rolled down his 
cheeks, at the capers Gysbert cut, raving and 
tossing, shouting and groaning, and flinging 
the bed-clothes about. 

“Thou art the cleverest lad I ever met!” 
he whispered, glancing significantly at the 
door, to intimate that Dirk was probably out- 
side listening. Then aloud; 

“By the Pope ! thou art in a right bad pre- 
dicament, and methinks thou hast not much 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 207 

longer to survive, my lively boy! And thy 
sister is truly as handsome as Dirk painted 
her. But I like the dark beauty of my Inez 
best!’’ Here someone called Dirk loudly, 
and they heard him descending the stairs. 
Knowing however, that his absence would 
probably not be for long, they made the best 
use of their time. 

‘^De Rova,” hurriedly whispered Gysbert, 
^‘we are caught here like rats in a trap! 
Canst thou help us to escape 1 ’ ’ 

‘‘Willingly would I,” answered the soldier, 
“for I have not forgotten the splendid por- 
trait of me which I sent to Madrid. I do 
truly think it has at last turned the undecided 
heart of fair Inez Montagno toward me, for 
her letters of late, have been warmer and less 
flouting. Also I bear no particular love to 
Dirk Willumhoog, who has done me one or 
two sneaking ill turns that he thinks I do not 
trace to him. But how can I aid thee? I 
cannot unlock doors so carefully guarded. I 
cannot waft thee from barred windows, nor 


208 JACQUELINE 

can I rescue thee with ladders! What wilt 

thour^ 

^^Only one thing!’’ said Gysbert quickly. 
‘‘Hast thou a knife about thee? If so, leave 
it with me, I pray! No — ” seeing the sol- 
dier’s questioning glance — “I do not mean 
to kill anyone with it, but with something 
sharp in our possession I think we can fur- 
nish our own means of escape.” For an an- 
swer the Spaniard drew from his belt a 
short-handled weapon with a strong Toledo 
blade, and placed it in the boy’s hands. 
Quickly concealing it under his mattress, 
Gysbert thanked him with an eloquent look. 
But footsteps were again approaching, and 
all knew that the interview must soon end. 
Alonzo turned to Jacqueline with a look of 
reverent admiration in his eyes : 

“Fair young Juffrouw, beyond everything 
do I admire thy quiet courage and devotion 
to thy brother. For the sake of my lady, 
Donna Inez Montagno, whom I shall one day 
tell all about thee, may I kiss thy hand in 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 209 


farewell T ’ J acqueline, genuinely touched, 
extended her hand. De Eova dropped gal- 
lantly on one knee and touched it with his 
lips. 

would that I could do more for thee,’’ 
he whispered, ‘‘but I have done all that is in 
my power. God bless you both, and grant 
you success!” A knock was heard at the 
door, Gysbert began to rave again, and 
Alonzo prepared to take his departure. 

“They are hard put to it!” the children 
heard him telling Dirk as he went out. “I 
doubt whether the boy will recover, and he 
is not in his senses a minute. But I have 
won my wager, Dirk! I consider Donna 
Inez far handsomer than thy little Juffrouw 
Jacqueline in there!” 

“But is he not a jewel!” whispered Gys- 
bert. “I told thee I had made a friend 
when I cultivated his acquaintance. This 
pretty little blade is going to save us, I 
hope!” and he stroked the weapon admir- 
ingly. 


JACQUELINE 


aio 

‘‘But howT’ demanded Jacqueline, in won- 
der. 

“Trust me, and thou wilt seel’’ was all he 
would reply. 


THE EAVESDEOPPEES AND THE 
PLOT 



CHAPTEE XV 


THE EAVESDKOPPEES AND THE PLOT 

G YSBEET did not keep his sister long 
in doubt as to the use he proposed to 
make of Alonzo de Eova’s Toledo blade. 
The first thing he did caused her consider- 
able wonder and not a little alarm. In one 
corner of the room he pried up the tiles of 
the flooring for the space of a square foot, 
and cut away the planking underneath, leav- 
ing nothing but some thin lath and plaster be- 
tween them and the room below. 

^‘Oh, Gysbert! what art thou doing!’’ 
asked Jacqueline in distress. ‘^We will be 
discovered and all will be lost!” 

‘‘Not at all!” said Gysbert as he covered 
up his work by carefully replacing every- 
thing he had removed. “No one will suspect 
what I have done, and through this hole we 
213 


JACQUELINE 

can listen to mucli that goes on below. We 
may hear something worth while if we lis- 
ten hard enough ! But that is only one thing 
I intend to do with this valuable weapon. 
Let me show thee to what other use it may be 
put!’’ He went to the window, recon- 
noitered long and carefully to see that no one 
was near, and then commenced to file away at 
one of the iron bars, digging carefully into 
the wood in which it was imbedded, and using 
every effort to dislodge it from the socket in 
which it was set. 

‘‘This will be a long and tedious piece of 
work,” he remarked. “There are three 
thick bars, each set stoutly in woodwork 
nearly as hard as iron itself, and we want to 
do this work so carefully that it will not be 
noticeable should anyone enter the room. 
Each bar will have to be loosened both top 
and bottom, and I know not how long it will 
take us. We will work as constantly as we 
can, and I doubt not in time we shall be free 
as the birds, as far as this window is con- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS ^16 

cerned. Tis a good thing the blade is sharp 
and enduring ! ’ ’ 

‘‘Yes, but even so,’' demurred Jacqueline, 
“what are we going to do when the bars are 
loosed? To be as free as the birds, as thou 
sayest, we must have wings, for we are fully 
twenty feet from the ground I” 

“There are many ways to get out of a win- 
dow, Jacqueline, as thou wouldst know if 
thou hadst climbed in and out of one as many 
times as I have! But that too will all come 
in good season, and meanwhile we must work 
away at the bars.” Hope, — even vague and 
indefinite hope, — lends wings to the soul and 
zest to the brain and hands. This faint 
glimmer that had been cast across the black- 
ness of the two children’s prospects so filled 
their hearts with its brightness that they 
were almost gay, as they sawed away on the 
stout iron bars. They would have shouted 
and sung, had not that performance surely 
encouraged unwelcome attention in their di- 
rection. 


216 JACQUELINE 

That same* night Gysbert removed the tiles 
and piece of plank from the hole he had dug 
in the flooring. Leaning over it the children 
strove to gather, from any sounds they might 
hear, what was going on beneath them. It 
was destined that they should hear some- 
thing that night which while it enlightened 
them upon several points hitherto inscrutable, 
served in no way to add to their peace of 
mind. The room just under theirs was evi- 
dently one that was not often used, for it 
seemed to be dark and deserted. Presently 
however, a light shown through the cracks in 
the ceiling, someone was heard moving about, 
and voices whispered words that could not be 
distinguished. At length the sentence, ‘‘He 
is even now coming!^’ penetrated up through 
the ceiling, and there was another silence. 
Then the neighing of horses was heard out- 
side. A loud tramping of heavily shod feet 
resounded on the wooden floors, the door of 
the room below opened, and three people en- 
tered. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS m 


‘‘Sit you down! Pray, sit you down!’’ 
said a voice easily recognized as Dirk Wil- 
lumhoog’s. “We will be secure here from 
all interruption and can talk freely, with ab- 
solutely no fear of being overheard ! ’ ’ Here 
Gysbert pinched Jacqueline till she almost 
laughed aloud. Two gruff voices replied in 
monosyllables, and there was a scraping of 
chairs and jingling of spurs, as the two 
horsemen placed themselves at the table. 

“Now,” commanded one of the gruff 
voices, “tell us quickly, Dirk Willumhoog, 
what is this plan that thou hast, and we will 
then discuss whether it be worth consider- 
ing ! ’ ’ 

“Nay, nay. Commander Valdez!” whined 
Dirk. “We must not be quite so speedy!” 

“Didst thou hear that, Jacqueline?” whis- 
pered Gysbert. “Commander Valdez! — 
Now we are going to hear something worth 
while!” 

“Come, come!” put in the third voice im- 
patiently. “Why all this parleying? If 


218 


JACQUELINE 


thou hast a plan worth considering, out with 
it, and thou shalt be recompensed accord- 
ingly. Dost thou think us willing to sit 
here all night to split hairs with such as 
thou!’^ 

‘^Not so fast! not so fast, Colonel Bor- 
gia!’’ complained Dirk. ‘‘If my plan is 
worth anything it is worth bargaining for, 
and I do not intend to sell it cheaply, I as- 
sure you!” 

“Jacqueline,” again whispered Gysbert, 
“there is some dreadful plan afoot ! Colonel 
Borgia is the Spaniard in command of Fort 
Lammen, the strongest redoubt against the 
city. Listen! — ” 

“Well, Dirk,” interrupted Valdez, per- 
ceiving evidently that it would not do to try 
bullying this subtle rascal, “tell us then what 
is thy price for the service thou dost propose 
to render the Spanish army?” 

“Fifty thousand florins!” replied Dirk^ 
calmly but firmly. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 219 


*^Fifty thousand flying devilst^^ roared 
Valdez pounding the table with his fist. 
‘^Dost thou think the Spanish treasury is a 
mine of diamonds? Away with thee, thou 
scurvy rascal! Come, Borgia! ’tis useless 
parleying with a madman!’’ 

‘‘Gentlemen,” remarked Dirk, quite un- 
moved by this outburst on the part of the 
Spanish general, “you do me wrong. Did 
you hut know my plan, you would say it was 
easily worth full twice the amount I have 
named. However, I have other ways of dis- 
posing profitably of my secret, should my 
terms not appeal to you!” In the silence 
that ensued, the two listeners could imagine 
the Spaniards consulting each other with un- 
certain glances. At last the voice of Valdez 
spoke again, this time in a more conciliatory 
tone: 

“ Willumhoog, I am not authorized to offer 
any such amount as thou dost name. But I 
swear to, thee that I will consult with our 


220 JACQUELINE 

ever gracious and merciful King Philip 11, at 
the earliest opportunity, to obtain this 
amount for thee, using every influence in my 
power. ^ ’ 

‘‘Will your worship put that down in writ- 
ing U’ inquired Dirk eagerly. 

“Certainly, certainly!’’ replied the gen- 
eral, glad to have made an impression so 
easily. Dirk hastened out, evidently to ob- 
tain pen and paper, and was back again in a 
jiify. “I have one more request to make,” 
he remarked in honeyed tones. “As thou 
wilt ! ’ ’ said Valdez. 

“It is that your worship will write at my 
dictation.” 

There was another uneasy pause, and then 
the general acquiesced, muttering that he did 
not have to write anything that he did not 
wish! 

“I, General Valdez,” dictated Dirk, “Com- 
mander of the Spanish army before Leyden, 
do hereby give my promise that I will inter- 
cede with His Majesty, Philip II, to pay over 


or THE CARRIER PIGEONS 221 


to Dirk Willumlioog, for the valuable secret 
he shall impart concerning an unknown en- 
trance into the city, the sum of fifty thou- 
sand florins. Scratch, scratch went the 
pen, and coming to this point, Valdez ex- 
claimed: There now I will sign my 

name ! ’ ’ 

^^Not quite yet!^’ said Dirk quietly. 

There is something else!^’ — ‘‘And if I do 
not succeed in so persuading His Majesty, I 
stand ready to reimburse said Dirk Willum- 
hoog for the amount remaining above what 
he shall have already received, out of my own 
private funds and estates.^’ 

“Never!’’ shouted Valdez, springing to his 
feet and clanking around the room. “Dost 
thou take me for a natural-born fool, thou 
sneaking rascal ! ’ ’ 

“The loss will be all your worship’s,” re- 
sponded Dirk unmoved, “as the glory would 
also be, could you but take the city by sur- 
prise. I am not asking for glory. I do not 
wish my part in it to become generally 


222 JACQUELINE 

known. All I ask is the gold!’^ Valdez and 
Borgia consulted together for a moment in 
low tones, and the result of their consultation 
seemed 'to he the hasty decision that they 
must capitulate. 

‘‘Very well!’’ declared the general, “I will 
write as thou hast said, but mark my words ! 
Thou hadst better keep out of my way, Dirk 
Willumhoog, when this transaction is com- 
pleted!” 

“And now, gentlemen, just one thing 
more,” added Dirk when the writing was fin- 
ished and in his possession. “As an earnest 
of your good faith, I require a thousand flor- 
ins to be paid me at once!” More splutter- 
ings from Borgia and explosions from Val- 
dez ensued, but this was evidently mere 
bluster, for after a due amount of bickering 
and bargaining, a clinking of coins was heard, 
and money was counted out slowly and re- 
luctantly. 

“There!” said Valdez, “Thou hast now 
every jot thou didst demand. Out with thy 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 22S 


secret, and be quick about it, for we have not 
all night to spend ! ’ ’ 

‘^This, then, is my story,” answered Dirk. 
‘‘I have discovered — never mind how! — a 
passageway through a certain part of the 
wall of Leyden. Not a soul knows of its ex- 
istence save myself, and none could ever find 
it unassisted, for I myself stumbled upon it 
quite by chance. There is room for but one 
to pass through at a time, and the passage is 
dangerous. But it would be an easy matter 
to introduce a regiment of soldiers through 
it in the night, and in the morning the town 
would be yours for the inhabitants are all too 
weak from starvation to make much resist- 
ance. ’ ’ w 

‘‘But where is this secret passage?” de- 
manded Valdez. 

“That will I not divulge till I lead the first 
soldier through it,” replied Willumhoog 
shrewdly. “When does your worship think 
would be the best and earliest opportunity to 
effect the entrance?” 


224 JACQUELINE 

Again Valdez and Borgia consulted to- 
gether. 

To-day is the thirtieth of September,” 
replied the general. ^‘On the night of Octo- 
ber third we will have all in readiness, and 
thou shalt fulfill thy promise. At the same 
time Colonel Borgia shall make an assault 
upon the wall on the opposite side of the 
city, and thus draw off the attention from 
our place of ingress.” With a few more re- 
marks relative to the payment of the money, 
and a hasty and anything but cordial leave- 
taking, the two Spaniards tramped out, 
mounted their horses and rode away. The 
lights in the room below were extinguished, 
the door was shut, and darkness and silence 
reigned throughout the farmhouse. But up 
in their prison room, the two children clasped 
each other and shuddered with horror at the 
dark crime that was soon to be committed. 

‘‘It is frightful, Gysbert!” moaned Jac- 
queline. “Our beautiful city that has so 
long and so bravely held out, will be given 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 225 


over by this traitor to the Spanish fury!’^ 
‘^But what makes me feel the worst/’ 
raged Gysbert, ^4s that I could not warn the 
burgomaster of that breach, as the Prince 
bade me ! Why did I not think to tell Myn- 
heer Van der Werf before I went away! 
Why didst not thon tell him, Jacqueline!” 

‘‘I somehow never thought of it when I was 
with him, and he never asked me how Dirk 
got in. I think his mind was all but dis- 
tracted with the burden of the city’s distress, 
so that he could give no heed to what seemed 
then but a comparatively light matter. Oh, 
Gysbert! can we do nothing about it! 
Surely God who led us to overhear this vile 
plot will show us the way to foil it !” 

‘‘I think He will!” said Gysbert rever- 
ently. ‘‘And anyhow, I am going to pray 
to-night that He show us some means of get- 
ting out of our prison and warning the city. 
Wilt thou too, Jacqueline!” 

‘ ‘ I will indeed ! ’ ’ answered the girl. ‘ ‘ And 
before we go to bed we will work long at the 


m JACQUELINE 

bars, for that seems our surest means of es- 
cape/’ 

‘^Only three days!” groaned Gysbert. “I 
would that it were as many times as far away. 
But in three days we can do much — if we 
work hard!” 


WHEN THE WIND CHANGED 


I 



I 


I 




I 


II. I > 

I 




* 



\ 


t 


I 


« 


I 





« 

( 

^ i 




CHAPTER XVI 


WHEN THE WIND CHANGED 

A ll the next day the children bent every 
effort toward sawing and digging 
away at their window bars^ but the hours 
wore away and only one had been completely 
loosened, while another was unfastened at 
the bottom. The knife-blade was becoming 
dull with this rough usage, and their courage 
dropped in proportion as their strength 
gave out and night approached. Well on in 
the afternoon, Gysbert again removed the 
tiles and planking, for both had imagined 
they heard unusual sounds in the room below. 
They were not mistaken. A mementos lis- 
tening convinced them that it was Dirk and 
the wife of Joachim Hansleer, holding an an- 
imated conversation in low tones. 

^‘Give me my share now, Dirk!’^ they 


S30 JACQUELINE 

heard the woman say. ‘‘If thou art going to 
depart for Spain shortly, it will be just as 
well to settle up this matter at once. I know 
not where my good man Joachim is, nor 
when I will see him again, and I need the 
money.’’ 

“I shall not depart for Spain with those 
brats till after the sack of the city, when the 
boy ought to he better. I do not half believe 
he is as ill as he makes out to be. Why canst 
thou not wait till then!” answered Dirk. “I 
must go away this afternoon, and will prob- 
ably not be back till after the third. I am 
going to make one more test to see if my 
secret is still safe and practicable. When I 
return will be time enough ! ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Thou art a slippery eel, Dirk Willumhoog, 
and that I know right well!” replied the 
woman. “After the excitement is all over, 
thou wouldst find some means of sliding away 
without paying up thy just debts. I swear 
to thee that if thou dost not pay me at once 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 231 

those three hundred florins which are due me 
for my trouble, I will go straightway upstairs 
after thou art gone to the city and release 
those two children! And I care not what 
may be the consequences!’’ 

This knock-down argument evidently con- 
vinced Dirk that it would be best to parley no 
longer with the decided Vrouw Hansleer, 
but pay her at once. There was a clinking 
of coins, a counting aloud, several disputes 
over the reckoning, and at last the matter 
was settled and peace restored. 

‘‘Remember,” warned Dirk as they were 
leaving the room, “to guard those children 
well, for they will surely mean more money 
to us — ” Then the door was shut and the 
listeners heard no more. 

“What can all this mean!” queried Gys- 
bert. “Didst thou hear him speak of ‘tak- 
ing those two brats to Spain in a short time’? 
That means us, of course! WTiat can he 
possibly mean to do with us there, and how 


JACQUELINE 


can we bring him more moneys One would 
think we were important personages and he 
was trying to get a ransom for us ! ’ ’ 

‘^It is all dark and mysterious,’’ answered 
his sister, ‘^but if we do what we hope. Mas- 
ter Willumhoog will receive a little surprise 
before October third ! Come, we must waste 
no more time, but work away!” Later on 
they saw Dirk Willumhoog leave the house, 
carrying with him a bag which they did not 
doubt contained the remaining seven hun- 
dred florins. While watching his progress 
down the road, Gysbert’s attention suddenly 
became flexed on something in the sky, and he 
seized Jacqueline’s arm excitedly. 

‘^Look, look!” he cried. ‘‘Dost thou 
seel” 

“I see nothing! What is it I” 

“Why the wind is changing! Look at 
those black clouds rising out of the north- 
west! Look at the leaves of the trees all 
bending toward the east ! Look at the birds 
flying so low ! I tell thee, J acqueline, we are 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 2SS 


going to have a terrible storm! The equi- 
noctial gale should have come a week ago, but 
it is here at last ! ’ ’ 

What Gyshert predicted was quite correct. 
The continual east wind had at last shifted 
to the northwest, bringing with it the strong, 
salt smell of the sea. The sky was still 
beautifully clear and blue, but a weather- 
wise person would have certainly read the 
signs of coming change. Dirk Willumhoog 
was now far out of sight, but they saw Vrouw 
Hansleer come out to the yard and scan the 
horizon anxiously. 

‘^Here, Jacqueline,’’ said Gyshert when 
the woman had gone in, ^‘give me that knife 
now, while thou dost take a rest. We must 
get along even faster, for if the wind holds 
and the water rises, there will be fine doings 
to-night, and we want to be prepared to take 
our part. Look! I think the top of this end 
bar will give way in a short time.” 

‘‘This surely will float the fleet, will it 
not?” asked his sister. “The night I was 


234 ! JACQUELINE 

captured Boisot sent a message that he was 
at Nord Aa, but must remain there until the 
water rose. They have probably been 
stranded there ever since. 

‘^Surely, surely!^’ answered Gysbert. 
‘^And what is more, we ought to have a full 
view from our little window here, if they 
come by. For though we are a good dis- 
tance from the canal, I think we could get a 
fine sight of a battle, if there is to be one. 
Oh, I hope there will be a battle!’’ In a 
frenzy of excitement, they kept at their work 
till darkness fell. Before the last streaks of 
twilight had faded, they had witnessed the 
puddles in the road grow and spread into 
small ponds, the ponds widen and join them- 
selves into a shallow lake which lapped 
against the walls of the house. 

Then came the tempest I The wind raged 
and howled; the sky was black with high- 
piled clouds; the tree branches tossed and 
groaned, or were split asunder with loud 
cracking noises; the walls of the farmhouse 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 235 


shook, the windows rattled, and pandemo- 
ninm itself seemed let loose ! The children 
trembled, half with awed admiration at this 
war in the elements, half with delight at what 
this wonld mean to the besieged city, and 
clasped their hands convulsively at every 
louder roar of the wind or crash of huge 
trees falling. Down below it was evident 
that panic and disorder reigned supreme. 
Cries and shouts of dismay mingled with the 
shrill screaming of a woman’s voice. Once 
they heard Vrouw Hansleer splash out into 
the flooded yard, calling to someone unseen 
in the darkness : 

^^Come, Wilhelm! come and help me move 
my furniture! Oh, my beautiful furniture! 
it will all be ruined!” 

‘‘Zounds, woman!” responded the voice. 
“Dost thou think thou canst save thy 
wretched furniture in this pass? Thou shalt 
he thankful to get otf with thy life ! Take 
what thou canst carry and be quick, for the 
Kirk-way is broken through, and the flood 


2S6 


JACQUELINE 


will soon be upon us. Hurry, hurry, I say! 
Merciful St. Anthony! I can hear it roar 
now!’^ And true enough, from far in the 
distance came a faint, ominous sound, low at 
first as the sighing of a summer breeze, yet 
dreadful enough to those who understood it, 
to paralyze every muscle with terror. With 
one final shriek Vrouw Hansleer darted into 
the house for a moment, then out again and 
the children heard the retreating footsteps 
splashing hurriedly down the road. After 
that a deathlike silence reigned in the house. 

‘‘Gysbert, they have gone and left us!^^ 
cried the terrified Jacqueline. ^‘Left us to 
perish here like rats drowned in a trap when 
the fiood reaches us ! Oh, it is cruel, cruel ! ^ ^ 

^ ‘ N onsense ! ’ ^ retorted her brother. ‘ ^ This 
is the finest thing that could have happened. 
I am certain the fiood will not rise higher 
than these windows, so we will be perfectly 
safe from drowning. And now that they 
have deserted the house, we can turn our at- 
tention to getting out of the door somehow. 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 2S7 

and not bother with these window bars any 
longer. I feel certain the wood of the door 
will yield to this knife, and when we have 
made a hole big enough, we can crawl out, 
or burst it open, or pull back the bolts, or 
something. But we must be quick about it, 
for we want to get ahead of Dirk and warn 
the city before October third. That is the 
day after to-morrow.’^ In the pitchy dark- 
ness they groped and found the door. Gys- 
bert began immediately to hack away at one 
of the panels, finding that it offered much 
less resistance than did the deeply imbedded 
iron bars of the window. 

‘‘Courage, Jacqueline!^’ he called at in- 
tervals. “We are going to make it soon, 
without fail. But thou hadst best keep watch 
at the window.” The storm far from abat- 
ing, increased in violence. The wind shifted 
again from the northwest to the southwest, 
piling up the waters of the German ocean in 
huge masses, and dashing them against the 
broken dykes. At about eleven o’clock, the 


S38 JACQUELINE 

ominous, distant murmur increased to a loud 
roar. Jacqueline at the window called to 
Gysbert, and together they watched the ter- 
rible, awe-inspiring sight, or as much of it as 
they could see in the darkness. 

The dreadful something approached nearer 
and nearer, till, with an ear-splitting sound 
it suddenly appeared out of the gloom, — a 
huge black wall of water nearly ten feet high, 
rolling forward with incredible swiftness, 
deluging, submerging, or pushing before it 
everything that came in its way. For one 
horrible instant it surged about the house, 
rocking the structure to its very foundations, 
and threatening to uproot it outright, and 
fling it to the ground. But the house stood 
firm, and the vanguard of the flood passed 
on, leaving the water well up to the second 
story window, and burying all else in its 
swirling depths. 

When this moment of danger was past the 
children breathed again. Gysbert went back 
to his work on the door with only an, ‘‘I 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 239 

told thee so!^’ while Jacqueline kept watch 
at her post by the window. The black wa- 
ters just a little way below her seemed dan- 
gerously near, and she imagined them to be 
rapidly rising. But as they were not yet up 
to the window, the children were for the pres- 
ent, at least, safe. 

At midnight another panorama was spread 
before their eyes. While Gysbert was dig- 
ging away at the door, Jacqueline was sud- 
denly startled by a bright flash and a sharp 
report, across the black waste of waters. In- 
stantly it was followed by a resounding roar, 
as from the mouths of twenty cannon. Gys- 
bert dropped the knife and rushed to the win- 
dow. 

^ ‘ The fleet ! The fleet ! ’ ’ he cried. ‘ ‘ They 
have passed the Kirk-way, and are making 
their way toward the city! Long live Ad- 
miral Boisot!^’ It was indeed the doughty 
Admiral and his fearless Beggars of the Sea. 
Up till that day he had been all but in de- 
spair, and had even written to the Prince of 


240 JACQUELINE 

Orange that the expedition must be aban- 
doned if the wind did not change. Then 
came the storm. The waters rose, and the 
Kirk-way, already broken through, was soon 
levelled, and the flotilla passed in triumph 
at midnight toward the village of Zoeter- 
woude. Not half a mile distant from the 
farmhouse in which the children were incar- 
cerated, the fleet received its first challenge 
from the guarding Spanish sentinels, and 
answered with such a roar of cannon as all 
hut staggered the astounded outposts. 

Then ensued a terrible battle, amid a scene 
perhaps the strangest in which ever a battle 
was fought. From out the village of Zoeter- 
woude flocked the Spanish, making their way 
in any kind of craft on which they could lay 
hands. The fleet found itself progressing 
amid half-submerged tree-tops and orchards, 
interspersed with chimney stacks and the 
roofs of low houses. In this strange sur- 
rounding they grappled with the Spanish 
enemy. All the advantage, however, was on 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 241 


their side, as they had but to upset the frail 
crafts of the Spanish in order to create the 
most utter rout in the ranks of the enemy. 

From the window the children watched the 
strange spectacle, the room being frequently 
illuminated by the glare from the cannons. 
So near were they, that even the shouts and 
cries reached them distinctly, and once was 
borne to them across the waters, the ‘‘Song 
of the Beggars ^ ’ uplifted in a swelling chorus 
of triumphant voices ; 

“Long live the Beggars! Wilt thou God’s word 
cherish — 

Long live the Beggars I bold of heart and hand. 
Long live the Beggars! God will not see thee 
perish. 

Long live the Beggars! oh, noble Christian band!” 

Then the fleet swept on, and though the 
sound of shouting and cannonading dimin- 
ished but little, the battle passed out of the 
range of the children’s vision. 

When morning dawned over the waste of 
gray waters, it revealed a weird and deso- 


24>2 JACQUELINE 

late scene outside the window. But inside, 
it lighted up a door in which Gysbert had 
carved a hole long enough for him to reach 
his arm through and unloose the bolts I 


A (CEASE IN THE NIGHT 


CHAPTEE XVn 


A CBASH IN THE NIGHT 

W ITH a mighty effort Gysbert drew 
back the massive bolt and chain 
that bad so long kept them prisoners, pushed 
open the demolished door, and they stood 
outside the room — free at last ! 

‘‘Go cautiously I’’ warned be. “We are 
not yet absolutely sure that everyone is out 
of the bouse. But I have this knife, if we 
meet anyone, and it comes to the worst. We 
wonT try to go down stairs, — it would be like 
diving into a tank ! ’ ’ And indeed the water 
bad entered the bouse and crept three-quar- 
ters of the way up the staircase, while bump- 
ing against the ceiling of the rooms below, 
floated articles of Vrouw Hansleer’s cher- 
ished furniture. 

From room to room on the second floor 
245 


246 JACQUELINE 

the children crept, carefully listening and 
waiting before they entered any door. But 
the house was plainly deserted, except for 
themselves, and in a short time they aban- 
doned all caution, rollicking about in their 
new freedom like a couple of three-year-olds ! 
Theirs, they soon discovered, were the only 
other bedrooms on that floor, and of course 
the only ones with barred windows. Two 
other large apartments occupied the remain- 
ing space, one evidently used as a storeroom, 
the other as a granary. Both had large, 
open windows through which it would be 
easy to pass. 

For a long time they stood at one of these 
windows, watching the strange sight outside. 
The water swept by from the ocean inward 
with a rapid current, bearing on its surface 
every imaginable article that could float. 
Boxes, barrels, furniture of every descrip- 
tion, parts of houses, here and there a 
struggling cow or pig, and not infrequently 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 247 


a great haystack striking out majestically 
on its impromptu voyage. Once a baby^s 
cradle completely furnished, came in sight, 
and Jacqueline went nearly wild with terror 
and excitement lest it might bear a precious 
burden in its wrappings. But as it was 
swept nearer they saw that it was empty, 
and both children breathed a sigh of relief. 

Meanwhile, Gysbert of the fertile brain 
had already concocted a plan of escape. 

tell thee, Jacqueline, we shall get out 
of here in the easiest way imaginable, if we 
can only fish out of this muddle the thing we 
need! Sooner or later some small boat is 
bound to come along, — I know it, for I saw 
one way off there just now, too far away to 
reach. First we will try to forage up some- 
thing to eat, if that is possible, for I am 
nearly starved and thou must be also. Then 
we will each station ourselves at a window, 
— I in this room and thou in the granary, — 
to watch for a boat. In this way we can see 


248 


JACQUELINE 


from both directions. I will be prepared to 
swim for it if it comes near enough, and 
then the matter will be simple.’’ 

‘‘Aye, but I advise thee to first wash thy 
face!” responded Jacqueline gaily. “That 
plague-smitten countenance of thine would 
frighten away any rescuers we might en- 
counter!” And so, laughing, Gysbert fol- 
lowed her advice, leaning out of the window 
to dabble his hands in the water that now 
lapped within a foot of the sill. 

Breakfast was about as difficult a matter as 
any they had to undertake, for everything eat- 
able was downstairs, and it would be worse 
than useless to attempt procuring anything 
from those water-soaked depths. Beside, 
they had very little notion as to the where- 
abouts of the kitchen. So they turned again 
to the windows to solve their problem, count- 
ing it almost certain that eatables of some 
sort must in due time go sailing by. Their 
watch was long but not in vain, for in an 
hour or so, there hove in sight a loaf of bread 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 249 

floating so close that it was within reach of 
a long stick which they used to secure their 
treasure. Water-logged and unsavory as it 
was, they devoured it with unspeakable 
relish, for was it not the first meal they had 
eaten in freedom this many a weary day ! 

Then came the watch for the craft that was 
to bear them away. But the morning wore 
on, and though they strained their eyes in 
every direction, nothing in the least avail- 
able came into view. The water continued to 
rise till it was only six inches below the win- 
dow ledge, and should it come much further, 
their position might be reckoned exceedingly 
precarious. What they should do if the 
second floor became flooded except climb out 
on the roof, they could not imagine. At last, 
well on in the afternoon, Jacqueline called 
excitedly from her lookout : 

''Gysbert! Gysbert! Come here imme- 
diately! The very thing!” He was at her 
side in an instant, and there, sure enough, 
coming rapidly down stream was a little, 


250 


JACQUELINE 


shallow rowboat bobbing gaily along on the 
waves. In a very few moments it would be 
abreast of them. 

‘‘I’ll have to swim for it,” said Gysbert. 
“It’s too far away to reach with the pole!” 
Hastily flinging oft some of his outer gar- 
ments he plunged out of the window. He 
reached the spot opposite the window not an 
instant too soon; just as the stern of the 
boat swung by he grasped it and climbed 
clumsily aboard. But to Jacqueline’s sur- 
prise, he did not instantly grasp the oars and 
start to pull back. Instead he put his hands 
to his mouth, shouted, “No oars!” and in a 
twinkling was swept from her sight. 

For a moment the situation did not seem 
very serious, and she waited calmly, think- 
ing he would soon pick up an oar or a pole 
and return to her. But the time passed on 
and he did not come. The minutes grew into 
half an hour, then dragged themselves out to 
a full hour. Still no Gysbert! Jacqueline 
became almost distracted, and the situation 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 251 

warranted every fear that thronged her ter- 
rified soul. Suppose the water should rise 
and flood the room? Suppose the night 
should fall and add its horrors to the pros- 
pect? Suppose Dirk Willumhoog should re- 
turn and snatch her away to unknown ter- 
rors? Suppose Gysbert should be swamped 
in his little boat and drowned? Suppose? — 
But the accumulated burden of these fears 
was too great to be borne. She fell on her 
knees by the window ledge in an agony of 
prayer, but could only murmur : 

‘^Oh, God, God, God! Help! — ’’ 

The afternoon waned and twilight drew 
down. The water was now within an inch 
of the window ledge, but Jacqueline did not 
notice. She knelt with her head buried in 
her arms, and neither saw nor heard any- 
thing. Suddenly she was aroused from this 
half-stupor by a loud shout. She raised her 
head and perceived to her delight, a bulky 
canal vessel, so close that it looked as though 
it were about to sail right in the window. 


252 


JACQUELINE 


Over the prow leaned Gysbert, and a man 
whose face she did not recognize. 

‘‘Oh, Jacqueline!” called her brother. 
“Didst thou think I had forsaken thee? 
Well, IVe had the amazing good fortune to 
be picked up by Herr Captain Joris Fruy- 
tiers, and we came at once to get thee ! ” It 
took but a moment to launch the little boat, 
and take Jacqueline on board. As she crept 
into the boat, Gysbert noticed that the water 
was just beginning to trickle over the win- 
dow-sill into the room. 

“Jacqueline, we weren’t a moment too 
soon, were we?” he remarked gravely. 
When the girl had been established in com- 
fortable quarters in the roomy old canal- 
vessel, Gysbert told her the history of his 
adventures since he had been swept from her 
sight. He had at first felt perfectly confident 
of finding an oar or a pole floating along in 
the general confusion, so he did not jump out 
and swim back as he might have done. But 
the current bore him on and on, and nothing 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 253 

available did be see in all bis journey. Pres- 
ently, as be was watching over one side of 
tbe boat, be beard a bearty voice call out 
from tbe opposite direction: 

‘‘Ship aboy! Well, if that isn^t a pretty 
small fry commanding that bark!’’ and be 
recognized tbe grutf voice of bis former ac- 
quaintance on tbe road to Delft. Captain 
Fruytiers bad lost no time in getting both 
bimself and bis little boat aboard tbe big 
lugger wbicb be said be was taking to join tbe 
fleet of Boisot at Zwieten. Gysbert quickly 
told tbe blutf captain bis story and easily 
persuaded bim to turn back and rescue Jac- 
queline from ber perilous position. 

This was all, except that from some pass- 
ing vessel they bad picked up tbe news that 
tbe Fleet bad made a most triumphant prog- 
ress all day, scattering tbe Spaniards right 
and left, as they poured from tbe captured 
fortresses and fled along tbe road to tbe 
Hague. But Boisot bad now arrived before 
tbe strongest Spanish redoubt, — tbe fortress 


254 JACQUELINE 

of Lammen, less tlian five hundred rods 
from the city. Here he was obliged to halt, 
for it swarmed with soldiers, bristled with 
artillery, and defied the fleet to either cap- 
ture it by force, or pass under its guns. The 
Admiral hoped to carry the fort next morn- 
ing, but he expected a stiff battle. 

Joris Fruy tiers was to join the rear of the 
flotilla and help to swell its numbers. 
Plainly it was no situation for Jacqueline, in 
the midst of these battle-thirsty Beggars of 
the Sea, and yet no safer place could be found 
for her at present. So it was decided that 
she should remain on board, but Gysbert’s 
head was full of another plan for himself: 

must get into the city somehow! It 
would be horrible, with relief so near, to have 
that scoundrel, Dirk, lead in a Spanish regi- 
ment and bring about an untimely sur- 
render,’’ he urged. ‘^What is more, I have 
not a minute to spare, for to-morrow night 
the deed is to be done. If I can get in to- 
night it will be time enough to warn the bur- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 255 


gomaster and raise a defending corps to 
guard the breach. Stay thou here with good 
Joris Fruytiers, and I will take the small 
boat and a pair of oars, and row to the side 
where I can get through the scattering army, 
and into Dirk Willumhoog’s clever little en- 
trance!’’ 

So Jacqueline acquiesced, and watched her 
brother row away with much trepidation and 
many unuttered prayers for his safety. 
Darkness soon shut each boat from the sight 
of the other, but Gysbert paddled on keep- 
ing clear of floating debris as best he could, 
and trying hard to ascertain through the 
blackness just what was his location. Sev- 
eral times he found himself far out of his 
course, and thus more than one valuable 
hour was lost. At length, however, the water 
became too shallow to continue rowing, and 
he disembarked, tying the boat to a tree. 
By several signs he recognized the spot to 
be near where he had come out of the hid- 
den tunnel, several weeks ago. Of the Span- 


256 JACQUELINE 

ish army at this spot, there remained but a 
few stragglers gathering up their posses- 
sions. 

Gyshert concluded that the safest place 
for him was the tree to which he had tied 
his boat, and he was soon among its branches. 
From here he watched the departure of the 
last Spaniard, and was just about to 
descend, when one solitary sneaking shadow 
attracted his attention. In the blackness of 
the night he could discover little of its in- 
tentions, hut as it moved off in the direction of 
the wall, he decided to get down and follow 
it. The shadow glided along straight for 
the wall till it finally disappeared behind the 
bushes that hid the secret opening. When 
Gyshert arrived on the spot, there was not 
even a shadow to be seen. Then a great 
light dawned on his mind. 

‘‘Dirk Willumhoog ! ’ ’ he whispered. 
“What on earth am I to do nowU’ For a 
moment he stood undecided. He dared not 
venture into the secret passage while his 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 257 

enemy was there. And should Dirk not 
come back it was still very unsafe, for he 
might be guarding the other entrance. But 
the matter was soon to he solved in a way 
very different from any he could possibly 
have imagined. 

While he stood considering his course, he 
was startled by a curious rumbling sound 
that appeared to emanate from the very 
earth under his feet. Then there were 
grinding and groaning noises, low and indis- 
tinct, but terrifying beyond imagination. 
Gysbert’s hair fairly rose on his head, and 
something impelled him to beat the hastiest 
kind of a retreat. Turning on his heel, he 
ran with all speed to his boat, unmoored it, 
pushed it off, and rowed far out upon the 
black water. 

Suddenly there was a terrific sound like an 
explosion, then a crash that shook the earth 
for miles around, and made Gysbert^s little 
boat rock on the waves till it all but over- 
turned completely. WTien the boy recovered 


£58 


JACQUELINE 


Mmself enough to realize what had happened, 
it did not take him long to explain the dread- 
ful sounds. Undermined by the stream so 
long secretly eating at its base, the whole 
wall of Leyden between the Cow Gate and 
the Tower of Burgundy had suddenly fallen 
in utter ruins 1 


THE DAWN OP OCTOBEE THIED 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE DAWK OF OCTOBEE THIBD 

G YSBERT rowed away frantically 
from the scene of destruction. He 
had not, for the moment, the slightest idea 
what direction he was taking, but his mind 
was actively at work. The wall of Leyden 
had fallen in for the space of nearly a quarter 
of a mile ! If the Spaniards had the faintest 
suspicion of this, he reasoned, they would 
flock immediately to the scene, and make an 
easy and terrible entrance. There was no 
defending the breach from the inside, for the 
brave, but hunger-enfeebled corps of John 
Van der Does would be as nothing before the 
fierce thousands of the Spanish army. To 
his mind there remained but one course, — ^he 
must in some way get word to Admiral 
Boisot and his Sea Beggars, and let them 
261 


JACQUELINE 


make an entrance into the city before the 
Spaniards got wind of the disaster. 

With this end in view he looked about him, 
ascertained as nearly as he could the posi- 
tion of the fleet, and commenced to row 
steadily in that direction. As he drew near 
the Fortress of Lammen, however, he be- 
came aware that something very strange was 
taking place. Wonderingly he shipped his 
oars and turned about to watch the curious 
sight. Myriads of tiny lights twinkled across 
the dark waste of waters. There was almost 
no sound, but only a vague impression that 
something mysterious was happening. Aft- 
er a time the lights formed themselves into 
a long procession which seemed to flit stead- 
ily across the one remaining causeway that 
led to the Hague. 

The boy sat breathless, eager, marvelling at 
this apparently never-ending procession of 
lights, twinkling in single file over what 
seemed the very face of the water. For a 
time he could find no explanation for this 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 263 

singular spectacle, till all at once the truth 
flashed on him. The Spaniards were re- 
treating! Under cover of darkness, they 
were silently sneaking away, fleeing panic- 
stricken from the unknown terror of that 
hideous sound in the night, — fleeing like 
cowards at the very moment when fortune 
had rendered their entrance to the coveted 
city as easy as stepping over a log I 

Truly had God’s providence operated in 
a marvellous manner! At the crash of the 
falling wall, the terrified citizens of Leyden 
believed that the Spaniards had at last ef- 
fected their entrance in some horrible way. 
The Spanish, on the other hand, felt certain 
that the citizens were making a final, desper- 
ate sortie. And between this new danger on 
one side, and the fierce Sea Beggars and the 
inward-surging ocean on the other, they 
deemed retreat to be their only course, short 
of complete extermination, and they fled 
away in the night. 

For two hours Gysbert sat in his little 


^64 JACQUELINE 

boat and watched the retreat. In all the city 
of Leyden or its environments, he was the 
only soul that night who was aware of the 
true state of affairs. At length the last few 
straggling lights disappeared, and all was 
silence and darkness. When he was con- 
vinced that a nearer approach was safe, he 
rowed slowly toward Fort Lammen, recon- 
noitering carefully at almost every yard. 
But the nearer he drew, the plainer it be- 
came that the fort was absolutely deserted. 
Boldly landing at the foot of the battlement, 
he entered at the cannon-defended gate, and 
found the enclosure empty. Colonel Bor- 
gia and his troops had fled so hastily that 
even some of their time-honored battle-flags 
were left behind! 

Gysbert was not content, however, with 
ascertaining only the condition of Lammen. 
It was quite possible that the retreating army 
had halted at Leyderdorp, the headquarters 
of Valdez, half a mile away. Now that he 
was about it, he concluded that he might as 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 265 


well investigate there before daylight. 
Again pushing otf his boat, he paddled across 
the shallow lake that now spread over what 
was ordinarily meadow-land. But Leyder- 
dorp was also deserted. Guided by a dying 
camp-fire, he reached a small building which 
he guessed to be the abode of General Valdez. 
The fire was built before the doorway, and 
over it was still cooking a pot of ‘‘hodge- 
podge’’ or stewed meat and vegetables. 
Evidently it had been intended for the break- 
fast of the general, but so speedy had been 
the retreat that it was left behind in the 
hurry. 

‘ ‘ Whew ! ’ ’ ejaculated Gysbert, leaning 
over the pot. “This smells right savory to 
a stomach that has had nothing to-day but 
half a water-soaked loaf ! Thanks, my 
cowardly friends! I’ll partake of your 
bounty before I do another thing!” Swing- 
ing the pot from its hook, and scarcely wait- 
ing for it to cool, he helped himself to a large 
quantity doled out with a great iron spoon. 


266 


JACQUELINE 


and ate as only a half- starved, healthy boy 
can eat, till he could hold no more. 

Hunger satisfied, he proceeded to investi- 
gate the fleeing general’s quarters. By the 
dying fire-light he could discern several maps 
of Leyden and the outlying districts pinned 
about the walls, and on the table lay a scrap 
of paper hastily written upon. Gysbert took 
it out to the fire, coaxed the embers into a 
blaze, and kneeling over the flames tried to 
decipher the writing. It was in Latin, and 
very poor Latin at that, and was plainly the 
General’s farewell to the city. Gysbert had 
been for over a year studying this language 
in school, so he was able to construe its 
meaning fairly well. 

^^Vale civitasl^^ he read. ^^Valete castelli 
parvii, qui relicti estis propter aquam et non 
per vim inimicorum!^^ 

^ Vale civitas!^ — That’s ‘Farewell city of 
Leyden!’ I suppose. ^Valete castelli parvii 
— ’ What in the world can he mean by that ! 
If I had written such stuff in the Latin- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 267 


school, the master would have boxed my ears 
and kept me in from play for three days to 
write my conjugations ! What this doughty 
Spaniard wished to remark was probably — 
‘Farewell miserable town! Thou art aban- 
doned because of the water, and not because 
of the strength of thy resistance!^ Oh, ho! 
noble Valdez, thy Latin is as poor as thy 
courage ! I must keep this carefully to hand 
to Admiral Boisot.’’ 

But the dawn was already breaking, and 
Gysbert hurried back to Lammen, carrying 
with him as a souvenir, the iron pot of hodge- 
podge. Early that morning there was to be 
a combined assault on the fort by the Ad- 
mirals fleet and the citizens of the town. 
The day before, Boisot had despatched the 
last pigeon into the city, urging the starving 
populace to aid him in one last desperate at- 
tack. With the first streaks of daylight all 
was in readiness, and the Admiral prepared 
to push his fleet under the very guns of can- 
non-bristling Lammen. But to his great as- 


268 JACQUELINE 

tonishment, as the flotilla drew nearer, not a 
sound came from within the fort, not a vestige 
of life was to be seen anywhere. A sickening 
fear assailed him that the Spaniards had en- 
tered the walls during the night, which would 
explain the hideous sounds he had heard, and 
were already sacking the city. 

Suddenly upon the summit of the breast- 
work appeared the figure of a small boy. 
With one hand he waved his cap, and in the 
other he brandished a great pot of hodge- 
podge. 

‘‘Come on! Come on!’^ he shouted. 
“TheyVe gone! They fled in the night! 
Have no fear!’’ For a moment good Boisot 
could hardly believe his senses. But his 
sailors lost no time, pushed the fleet to the 
very walls of the fortress and found it to be 
true. Past the terrible Lammen they floated 
in triumph. The watching, wondering citi- 
zens of the city opened the gates with shouts 
of joy, and the conquering fleet sailed in. 
Leyden was saved ! 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 269 

In the twinkling of an eye were the canals 
and docks lined with throngs of the starving 
populace. They grasped with famished de- 
light the loaves of bread thrown to them by 
the jolly Beggars of the Sea, and nearly 
choked themselves to death trying to swallow 
huge mouthfuls without even chewing them. 

Gysbert waited impatiently on the for- 
tress till he saw the familiar lugger of Joris 
Fruytiers come into view, and then ran down 
and climbed aboard her. Words cannot de- 
scribe the meeting between himself and 
Jacqueline, who during that night of terror 
and uncertainty had given him up for dead. 
They had much to tell each other, but little 
time to give to it, for old Captain Joris de- 
manded at once the whole history of Gys- 
bert ^s night, and was loud in the praise of his 
bravery. 

When the last vessel had entered the gates, 
stanch Admiral Boisot stood on the deck of 
his flag-ship and made a speech to the assem- 
bled crowds. He ended by saying that both 


270 JACQUELINE 

the city and the Sea Beggars had much to 
thank God for, and proposed that they all 
proceed to the great cathedral of St. Peter, 
to render their praise to the God of Battles at 
once. Then many remembered what in the 
excitement of the moment they had quite 
forgotten — that the day was Sunday ! With 
the Admiral at their head, they marched in 
solid ranks down the Breede Straat, and en- 
tered the cathedral reverently. 

‘‘Shall we go?’’ questioned Gysbert of his 
sister. “Or dost thou think we had best go 
straight home first?” 

“No,” answered Jacqueline, “I think 
God’s worship claims us before all else!” 
and they entered the church with the rest. 
Only a suffering, plague- stricken, lately be- 
sieged and recently delivered people could 
have rendered such thanks as rose up to 
God’s throne from St. Peter’s that day. 
There were sounds of suppressed sobbing all 
through the congregation, and strong men’s 
eyes grew moist when the clergyman read : 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 271 


‘Oh, that men would praise the Lord for 
his goodness, and for His wonderful works 
to the children of men ! 

“ ‘They cried unto the Lord in their 
trouble, and He saved them out of their dis- 
tresses ! 

“ ‘For He satisfieth the longing soul, and 
filleth the hungry with good things ! 

“ ‘He brought them out of darkness and 
the shadow of death. He brake their bands 
in sunder ! 

“ ‘For He commandeth and raiseth the 
stormy wind which lifteth up the waves ! 

‘ ‘ ‘ Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for He is 
good, for His mercy endure th forever ! ’ ” 

Then the congregation rose, and every 
voice joined in their battle-hymn : 

“A mighty fortress is our God, 

A bulwark never failing! 

Our helper He amid the flood 
Of mortal ills prevailing. 

For still our ancient foe 
Doth seek to work us woe, 

His craft and power are great. 

And armed with cruel hate, — 

On earth is not his equal 1 ’ ’ 


272 JACQUELINE 

But in the midst of the second verse, a 
general emotion checked the volume of sound. 
One by one the voices failed, till at last the 
whole vast multitude broke down and wept 
like children, out of the great thankfulness 
for their deliverance. In their corner by a 
window, Gysbert openly sobbed with his 
head on his arm, and Jacqueline stood with 
the tears raining down her face, and the glad 
light of happiness in her eyes. 

‘^Come,’’ she said when the service was 
over. ‘^We must hasten at once to Vrouw 
Voorhaas! I have sad misgivings that all 
is not well with her.’’ They had, however, 
gone but a few steps when they heard a shout 
behind them, and turning they beheld Dr. 
Pieter de Witt beckoning to them and run- 
ning as fast as he could come. Seizing Gys- 
bert, he hugged him distractedly, and he 
squeezed Jacqueline’s hand till she almost 
screamed aloud. 

‘‘You blessed, blessed children!” he 
shouted. “I never supposed I should see 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 21S 


you again! Ah, this will indeed re-animate 
old Jan, and even Vrouw Voorhaas may — but 
come!’’ And he rushed them along so fast 
that Jacqueline could hardly find breath in 
which to ask after the sick woman. 

‘^She is very, very low!” panted De Witt. 
‘‘We hardly expect her to live through the 
day, but the sight of you two may make some 
difference, — I cannot tell! Hurry, hurry!” 
They reached Belfry Lane, stopped a moment 
to regain breath, and all three crept upstairs 
as softly as possible. The opened door re- 
vealed a strange sight to their astonished 
gaze. Jan stood huddled in a corner, eyes 
wide with amazement, apprehension, and 
doubt. Vrouw Voorhaas, withered and 
shrunken by her long illness, half sat up in 
her bed looking more like a ghost than a liv- 
ing being. But most astonishing of all, over 
her leaned a stranger, a tall, gaunt man clad 
in the uniform of the Beggars of the Sea. 
He bent over the woman, clasping her hand 
and questioning her anxiously in a low voice. 


274 JACQUELINE 

Her face was lined with despair, and her 
words, though faint, were audible to the lis- 
teners at the door: 

‘ ‘ Gone ! — gone ! — ^not here I — ’ ’ Suddenly 
she raised her head and saw the newcomers. 
With a great happy cry she pointed to them : 

^‘They are here! they are safe! — I have 
fulfilled my duty, — praise God!’’ and she 
fell back unconscious on the pillow. 


THE SECRET OUT 


4 


CHAPTEE XIX 


THE SECKET OUT 

D E. DE WITT flew to Vrouw Yoorliaas’s 
assistance, pushing the stranger un- 
ceremoniously aside in his haste. For a mo- 
ment no one spoke while he busied himself 
over the sick woman. Then he turned to the 
intruder, sternly inquiring : 

‘‘Who art thou, and why art thou hereT’ 
The man pulled off his cap ornamented with 
the Beggar’s crescent, and drew himself up 
to face the physician. 

“I am Dr. Cornellisen,” he said, “and I 
have come to claim my children!” 

Struck dumb with amazement and in- 
credulity, not a soul moved. Then De Witt 
advanced a step and stuttered : 

“But — ^b-b-but — ^Dr. Cornellisen is dead!” 
“No, he is not dead!” answered the stran- 


278 JACQUELINE 

ger. ‘‘He never died — but there was excel- 
lent reason why be should be considered so. 
Come, children ! will you not kiss your 
father U’ And he held out his arms to the 
two. Then the spell was broken. Doubting 
no longer, Jacqueline and Gysbert rushed 
into his embrace, while Jan blubbered in his 
joy like a great baby, and Dr. de Witt tore 
around the room, alternately laughing and 
crying, and trying to shake hands with Jan. 
The confusion lasted many minutes, during 
which time Vrouw Voorhaas came unassisted 
to her senses, and smiled understandingly on 
the scene. 

“Oh, my boy and girl!^^ said the father at 
last. “God has brought us through many 
strange trials and vicissitudes to the happi- 
ness of this meeting! But now, if it pleases 
Him, we shall never part again.” 

“But father,” answered Jacqueline, “we 
can scarcely yet realize that thou art our 
father, so much dost thou seem like one risen 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS ^79 

from the dead! Wilt thou not tell ns the 
whole story?” 

‘‘I will indeed, daughter, and right here 
and now, since it must seem passing strange 
to you all.” They sat down to listen breath- 
lessly, while Dr. Cornellisen began his story. 
As the tale unfolded, it revealed many things 
to them that had long been hidden in mys- 
tery. 

‘^Jacqueline here must remember,” he com- 
menced, “the time when I mysteriously dis- 
appeared six year ago. And so must thou. 
Dr. de Witt, for now I recognize thy face, and 
thank thee for thy devotion to me and mine. 
Well, as you all know, the young Count de 
Buren was cunningly enticed away from the 
University of Louvain by King Philip’s or- 
ders, to be taken to Spain and either killed 
outright, or kept as a hostage. He was only 
a boy of thirteen, and they flattered and ca- 
joled him with fine promises. Count de 
Chassy had been sent from Spain with a reti- 


JACQUELINE 


^80 

nue, Tinder the pretext of escorting the young 
Count on a visit to His Majesty Philip II. 

‘^The boy was under my special care, and 
I counselled him strongly not to accept these 
doubtful honors. But the child was uncon- 
trollable in his desire to have his own way, 
and before I could get word to the Prince of 
Orange, the start was made. Young Be 
Buren was to travel in state, though secretly. 
He had a retinue of two pages, two valets, a 
cook and an accountant, and moreover in- 
sisted that I should go with him as a personal 
companion. I was nothing loath to do so, 
for I thought I might thus be able to shield 
him from harm. My presence, however, was 
not relished by the Spanish envoys, but at 
first they thought it best not to oppose the 
boy’s wish. 

“We reached the borders of Spain, and 
camped one night in a little mountain village. 
As the evening was fine, I determined to take 
a short stroll before retiring. On reaching 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 281 


a lonely spot, I was set upon by a masked 
man, overpowered, stabbed in the ribs, 
dragged into the bushes and left for dead. 
I know now that my assailant was Dirk Wil- 
lumhoog, and that he had been hired to kill 
me!’’ At this familiar name the children 
gasped. 

‘‘Next morning the calvacade passed on 
without me, telling the boy I had left in the 
night to return to Louvain. But Dirk’s 
thrust had not quite reached its mark! I 
was picked up next day by some kind-hearted 
peasants, carefully tended for weeks, and at 
last was as well as ever. I was of course, 
perfectly unknown to them and remained so. 
In the meantime I had decided on a plan. I 
communicated with Vrouw Voorhaas, told her 
to sell the house, take you children and go 
to live in Leyden. She was to carefully con- 
ceal the fact that I was alive, and bring you 
children up in her good care till I should re- 
turn. I knew that you would be more than 


282 JACQUELINE 

safe in her excellent keeping, hut I never 
dreamed that mj term of absence would be 
so long. 

‘^At the same time I wrote to the Prince 
of Orange, who was almost distracted for the 
safety of his son. I told him what had hap- 
pened, and also that I intended to disguise 
myself as a Dutch malcontent or Glipper 
under the name of Dr. Leonidus Graafzoon, 
and obtain entrance to the court of Spain. 
There I could remain for a time, and watch 
over the fortunes of the young boy, so 
cruelly enticed into the midst of his father’s 
enemies. The Prince wrote back that by so 
doing I would earn his eternal gratitude, and 
procured me letters of introduction to the 
Spanish court, under my assumed name. 

‘ ‘ There I remained for five years, carefully 
guarding the safety of the count. At the end 
of that time, however, it became apparent 
that they contemplated no harm toward 
young De Buren. He was systematically 
well-treated, carefully educated, and seemed 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 283 

rather to like his new surroundings than 
otherwise. I had of course, been most 
anxious to be reunited with my family, and 
begged the Prince to free me from my duties 
and allow me to join you. He gave a 
hearty and gracious consent, and I began my 
preparations to return to Leyden when the 
news of the siege reached me, and I knew that 
great and imminent danger threatened you. 
I left Spain, as I learned later, not a day too 
soon for my old enemy Dirk Willumhoog had 
in some way discovered my secret, unearthed 
all my past history, and was hot upon a little 
scheme of his own. 

‘‘Vrouw Voorhaas sent me word, — it was 
the last I heard from her, — that a man whom 
she described as Dirk, called on her one day 
when you both were out, informed her that 
he knew her secret and who you children 
were and all about me. Then he tried to 
bribe her to give you up to him, offering a 
good round sum in gold. When she refused 
he threatened to get possession of you in 


2S4i JACQUELINE 

some other way. She was wild with anxiety 
for yonr safety, and begged me to hasten to 
Leyden without delay. But by the time I 
reached Holland the siege was in full prog- 
ress, and all thought of access to the city was 
hopeless. Having thus a double reason for 
serving the city, I went to Zeeland and 
joined the Sea Beggars. I fought all the 
way to Leyden on the ^Ark of Delft/ and 
have been frequently almost prostrated by 
the alternations of hope and despair. But I 
am here, we are reunited, — and now you 
know my story!’’ 

^^Yes,” said Jacqueline with a long-drawn 
breath, ‘‘but I still do not see why Dirk 
wished to get possession of Gyshert and my- 
self.” 

“Why! dost thou not comprehend! — ” in- 
terrupted the boy. “He wanted to hold us 
for a ransom, well knowing father would pay 
any price to have us back. Dost thou not 
remember how we overheard him telling 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 285 

Vrouw Hansleer that we would surely mean 
more money to them? And that is why they 
were so careful of us tool’^ 

‘‘Yes,’^ said Dr. Cornellisen, ‘‘that is what 
he wanted with you. But now I must hear 
your story too. How came Vrouw Voorhaas 
to think she had lost you?’’ The children re- 
counted their adventures, first one and then 
the other interrupting in a breathless, ex- 
cited fashion. At last Gysbert ended with 
the recital of the singular adventure of the 
night before, and the terrible falling of the 
wall, just after Dirk Willumhoog had entered 
the breach. 

“It doubtless became his tomb,” re- 
marked Dr. Cornellisen thoughtfully, “and 
a terrible ending indeed, — too terrible to lin- 
ger over ! ’ ’ 

“No, no!” interrupted old Jan eagerly. 
“It was but just, — ^just! Was he not about 
to betray the city for filthy Spanish gold, 
and does it not fulfil every word of that 


286 JACQUELINE 

verse from the Scriptures, — ‘In the snare 
which the wicked hath set is his own foot 
taken!’ ” 

“The Bible says also, — ‘Judge not that ye 
be not judged!’’’ said Dr. Cornellisen 
quietly. “So we will leave Dirk Willum- 
hoog forever, as he has gone to face his sen- 
tence in a higher court than any human 
one.” 

Presently Dr. de Witt made a sign to old 
Jan, and the two crept quietly out together, 
leaving the happy family alone for a while 
in their new joy of glad reunion. 


THE GEEAT DAT 


CHAPTEE XX 


THE GEEAT DAY 

F OUE months had passed since the 
lifting of the great siege of Leyden. 
No sooner had the Spaniards effected their 
retreat than the gales shifted, the wind 
changed to the east, the sea retreated and 
left the waters to drain from the sodden, 
half-drowned fields. In due time the work 
of reconstructing the dykes commenced, and 
the exhausted city once more lifted up its 
head, smiling to meet its renewal of life. 

No one rejoiced more over the wonderful 
victory than did the Prince of Orange. And 
to express his gratitude to the citizens for 
their enduring heroism during aU the long 
weary months, he determined to present the 
city with a gift. This gift was one more 
highly valued by the Dutch than anything 
289 


290 JACQUELINE 

else it was in his power to bestow, for it was 
neither more nor less than a University, 

Accordingly, the University of Leyden, 
destined in after years to be so illustrious, 
was endowed with a rich sum of money, and 
provided with professors and instructors, the 
most learned and distinguished in all the 
Netherlands. Among these was Dr. Cornel- 
lisen whose valuable personal services the 
Prince was never weary of praising. Wil- 
liam of Orange declared that a professorship 
was all too poor a reward for such devotion, 
but the doctor would accept of no other, 
vowing that his ambition was completely 
satisfied in being connected with such a won- 
derful institution of learning. 

On the fifth of February, 1575, all prepara- 
tions being completed, the solemn ceremony 
of consecrating the University was to take 
place. It was to be a great day, and the 
whole city was on tip-toe of expectation in 
consequence. The weather was perfect, and 
even though so early in the year, the atmos- 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 291 

phere had a spring-like flavor. The canals 
were packed with gay barges, houses flaunted 
in bunting and floral decorations, and a fes- 
tive air was prevalent in every quarter of 
the city. At seven o’clock in the morning 
there was a solemn ceremony of consecra- 
tion in the great church of St. Peter. Jac- 
queline and Gysbert could not but think of 
another scene in this same church only four 
months before, — ^but how different! There 
was no weeping now! All the new profess- 
ors flled in and took their places in the chan- 
cel, looking very grand and imposing in their 
flowing robes and decorations. 

‘‘Look, look, Vrouw Voorhaas! there is 
father!” whispered Gysbert, pulling her 
sleeve. And the faithful woman, now quite 
recovered from her long illness, nodded and 
smiled approvingly. The impressive serv- 
ice continued, ending with the singing of the 
famous hymn, — “A Mighty Fortress Is Our 
God!” But this time the joyful anthem was 
interrupted by no sobs of overwrought emo- 


^9^ JACQUELINE 

tion, as on that memorable Sunday, when 
Leyden was saved. 

Then came a gorgeous procession. Up the 
wide Breede Straat it moved slowly and 
majestically under great triumphal arches 
and over pavements strewn with flowers. 
First there was a grand military escort in 
which Adrian Van der Werf, the brave and 
loyal burgomaster rode at the head of his 
company of burgher guards. This was fol- 
lowed by glittering chariots and wonderfully 
arrayed figures representing Justice, Peace 
the four Gospels, and many mythological 
and allegorical characters. But in the midst 
of these there was a little break, and then ap- 
peared, riding on a milk-white horse a fair 
young girl. Her beautiful golden hair 
floated all about her, she was clothed in a 
long trailing robe of white silk, and on one 
shoulder sat a glistening pigeon, fastened to 
her by a small golden chain. She repre- 
sented Medicine, and carried a garland of 
healing herbs in one hand. As she passed 








OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 293 


through the crowds a great cry went up, — 
‘‘Jacqueline! Jacqueline of the Carrier 
Pigeons for all recognized her as the 
sweet, unselfish girl who had done and risked 
so much in the terrible days of the plague 
and siege, and not a few were also acquainted 
with the remarkable story of her father ^s 
return. 

It was a proud moment in her life, but she 
bore herself with the ease of entire uncon- 
sciousness, for her thoughts were on the 
honor of the University, and not on herself. 
Last in the procession came the professors 
and instructors, and the whole passed 
through every prominent street of the city 
till it came to the cloister of Saint Barbara, 
the place prepared for the new University. 
Here there was a long address by the Rev- 
erend Casper Kolhas, orator of the day, and 
later on a magnificent banquet. It was night- 
fall before all was over, and the tired par- 
ticipants returned to their various homes. 

In a fine, roomy house on the Marendorf- 


294 JACQUELINE 

strasse, the new quarters of the Cornellisen 
family, Gysbert and Jacqueline waited to bid 
their father good-night. When his social 
duties at last permitted him to come to the 
children, he entered the room and they 
gathered about him to talk it all over before 
going to bed. 

‘‘I am proud of my children!’’ said Dr. 
Cornellisen. Proud of thee, Jacqueline, be- 
cause thou hast borne thyself with so much 
grace and dignity during a difficult day. 
Proud of thee, Gysbert, because thou didst 
not complain of having no prominent part in 
the parade, although thy services to the city 
during the siege were really most praise- 
worthy. And now I am going to tell thee 
that the Prince wished me to allow thee to 
ride on a float all by thyself, dressed as thou 
wert on the morning of October third, with 
the pot of hodge-podge at thy side!” Gys- 
bert ’s eyes opened wide at this. 

“But I would not permit it,” went on his 
father. “Thou art yet too young to take so 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 295 

prominent a part, and I did not think it best 
for thee. But to make up for this, I am 
going to allow thee, in addition to studying 
in the University, to take a course in art un- 
der the very finest master that can be pro- 
cured. Does that please thee, son?” 

^‘Father, father!” answered the boy, and 
his voice trembled with the intensity of his 
feeling, ‘‘I know naught in all this world 
that would please me so much ! ’ ^ 

‘‘And as for thee, Jacqueline,” said the 
doctor turning to her, “since thou hast shown 
thyself so proficient in the healing art, — and 
Dr. de Witt tells me thou didst do wonders 
during the plague, — ^I shall give thee a special 
course under my own tuition, in the Univer- 
sity. Thou mayst not ever become a titled 
physician, that not being exactly a woman’s 
work, but at least thou shalt have all the 
understanding of one. Daughter, I trust 
that makes thee happy.” Jacqueline did 
not answer in words, but she put her arms 
about his neck, and laid her soft cheek 


296 JACQUELINE 

against his own, and her father understood. 

‘‘And now let ns call in Vrouw Voorhaas 
and Jan,’^ cried Gysbert, “and tell them the 
good news!’’ Vronw Voorhaas expressed her 
approval in her own quiet way, and Jan who 
now occupied a trusted position in the house- 
hold shouted hurrah like a boy ! In the midst 
of this rejoicing, Dr. de Witt dropped in on 
his way home from the burgomaster’s. 

“And let me tell you all something else,” 
he added when he had been informed of the 
children’s good fortune. “Mynheer Van der 
Werf has been commissioned by the Prince, 
in the name of the city, to buy all thy carrier- 
pigeons, Juffrouw Jacqueline, that were used 
during the siege, preserve them carefully 
while they live, and have them stuffed and 
placed in the Leyden Museum when they die. 
Likewise he undertakes to buy thy hodge- 
podge pot, Gysbert, for a good round sum, 
and place that also in the Museum. So I 
suppose you will both have to make up your 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 297 


minds to part with these cherished posses- 
sions/’ 

‘‘I’m only too glad to part with mine,” 
said Gysbert, “for I shall be proud to go 
and look at that old iron pot in its honored 
place in the Museum, and think how I found 
it that horrible night, and how good the Span- 
ish hodge-podge tasted that I got out of it!” 

“And I,” said Jacqueline, “will give up my 
pigeons since the Prince wishes it, but I 
think I will keep ‘William of Orange’ for 
myself. He rode with me in the procession 
to-day, and I love him both for the name he 
bears, and the part he played in those dread- 
ful days. No, I am sure I cannot part with 
my faithful ‘William of Orange’!” 

But the future was to hold one more great 
day for the Cornellisen family, at which we 
must have one glimpse before we leave them. 

Five years more had passed, and again it 
was October third, the anniversary of the 


298 JACQUELINE 

great Belief of Leyden. The day was always 
set apart as one of feasting and general 
thanksgiving, and a holiday air pervaded the 
city. But in the Cornellisen home were prep- 
arations of quite another character, — for it 
was the wedding day of Jacqueline. Grown 
into a fair and noble womanhood was this 
same Jacqueline of splendid promise, who 
had so bravely discharged what seemed to 
her the highest duty, in the days of the 
memorable siege. She was going to marry 
loyal, true-hearted Pieter de Witt who had 
learned to love her in the terrible days when 
they tended the starving and plague-stricken 
together. Patiently had he waited and 
watched her grow to be a sweet, unselfish 
woman. Then he had courted and won her, 
and to-night she stood ready to become his 
wife. 

No prettier bride could have possibly 
been imagined than Jacqueline as she stood 
robed in her wedding-garments. Vrouw 
Voorhaas hovered over her lovingly, giving 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS 299 

the last tender, anxious touches to the ar- 
ray of her beloved charge. Presently the 
door opened, and Gysbert laughingly de- 
manded admission, — Gysbert no longer a lit- 
tle lad of fourteen, but a tall fine youth of 
nineteen. He entered at his sister ’s bidding, 
and surveyed her admiringly from top to 
toe. 

^^Thou art perfect, my Jacqueline, but 
no one knows how I hate to part with thee, 
even to Pieter whom I do certainly love.’’ 

^^But thou art not parting with me, Gys- 
bert. Are we not going to stay right here 
with thee and father? I shall be with thee 
as much as ever!” 

‘‘Well, I suppose that is true. After all, I 
am only gaining a brother by this ! But dost 
thou remember, Jacqueline, how we used to 
talk over our ambitions up there on Hengist 
Hill? I am in a fair way to gain mine, for 
what dost thou think! — Karel Van Mander 
told father that I bid fair to become a great 
artist if I persevere, and he is the greatest 


300 JACQUELINE 

himself, in the Netherlands, at the present 
time! And then the Prince of Orange ad- 
mired and purchased my last picture, and has 
promised to hang it in his salon in the Prin- 
senhof. But what of thy great ambition, 
sister 

‘ ‘ Ah ! ’ ’ she answered laughingly. ‘ ‘ I have 
studied medicine till I have it at my finger 
ends. I am the daughter of one physician, 
and am about to become the wife of another I 
What more can I ask? I am content, Gys- 
bert!’’ 

‘‘But is it not splendid,” said the boy, 
“that the Prince is to be present at the wed- 
ding! Thou art much honored, Jacqueline, 
and I am wild to see him again. He is still 
my hero and ideal!” 

“Thou hast not yet seen the present he 
sent,” added Jacqueline. “It came but a 
short time ago. Look!” She held out her 
arm and exhibited a beautiful bracelet set 
with many pearls. In the center was a small 
gold plate on which was engraved : 


OF THE CARRIER PIGEONS M 

“To 3'acqiieline of the Carrier Pigeons 
from 

William of Orange-Nassau, 

In memory of faithful services in Leyden, 
1574 /^ 

“I prize this more than anght else I re- 
ceived!” she said softly. 

Then in came Jan, brave in wedding finery, 
to have a last intimate view of his Jacque- 
line. Round and round her he walked, 
speechless with admiration, and could only 
smile and chuckle, and rub his hands, and 
stroke her dainty garments with half-shy, 
half-reverent touches. Last of all came her 
father in his scholarly robes of the Univer- 
sity, and took her in his arms for a final 
caress. 

“Thou art sweet and fair, my darling!” 
he whispered. “Be as good a wife to Pieter 
as thou hast been ever a daughter to me, 
and Heaven itself could ask no more! But 
come ! the Prince and his suite have arrived, 
the guests are all assembled, and thy future 
husband waits to claim thee!” 


S02 JACQUELINE 

And so, to the sound of merry wedding 
music, we say farewell to Jacqueline of the 
Carrier Pigeons I 



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